Arab States Hold Half of World's Oil

posted on: Dec 28, 2009

Proven oil reserves in Arab countries topped 672 billion barrels in 2008, making up 57.7 percent of the world’s total reserves, an economic report said.

The Unified Arab Economic Report for 2009 said proven oil reserves in Arab countries rose 0.4 percent in 2008. Production, meanwhile, rose 6.2 percent in 2008 to 23.7 million barrels per day. That total represents 27.5 percent of the world’s production, the Emirates 24/7 news agency reports.

Saudi Arabia topped the list of Arab states with 39.3 percent of the proven world oil reserves, followed by Iraq with 17.1 percent and Kuwait with 15.1 percent. The United Arab Emirates ranked fourth with 14.6 percent, and Libya rounded out the Top 5 with 6.5 percent of the proven oil reserves in Arab states.

In terms of natural gas, Arab states contribute 13.4 percent to the global reserves, or 1.3 trillion cubic feet.

Prior to the global economic recession, meanwhile, the gross domestic product for Arab countries rose to $1.89 billion in 2008, which was a 26-percent increase from 2007 levels.

UPI.com