List of countries by natural gas proven reserves

Trends in the five countries with largest proven reserves of natural gas, according to the US Energy Information Administration

Countries by natural gas proven reserves (2014), based on data from CIA The World Factbook

Countries by natural gas and oil proven reserves (2015)

World natural gas proven reserves 1960–2012 (OPEC)

This list is based on the CIA World Factbook (when no citation is given). ^[1] or other authoritative third-party sources (as cited). Based on data from EIA, at the start of 2021, proven gas reserves were dominated by three countries: Iran, Russia, and Qatar.

There is some disagreement on which country has the largest proven gas reserves. Sources that consider Russia in possession of the world's largest proven reserves include the US CIA (47,600 cubic kilometers), ^[2] the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) (49,000 km³), ^[3] and OPEC (48,810 km³). ^[4] However, BP credits Russia with only 32,900 km³, ^[5] which would place it in second place, slightly behind Iran (33,100 to 33,800 km³, depending on the source).

Due to constant announcements of shale gas recoverable reserves, as well as drilling in Central Asia, South America, Africa, and deepwater drilling, estimates are updated frequently. Since 2000, some countries, notably the US and Canada, have seen large increases in proven gas reserves due to development of shale gas, but shale gas deposits in most countries are yet to be added to reserve calculations.

List

Note: * indicates that the linked article is about natural gas production in the country or territory specifically, such as natural gas in Russia.

Proven reserves (km³)

Country	U.S. EIA (2021) [6]	OPEC (start of 2018) [7]	BP (end of 2020) [8]	OTHERS	Production km3/year (2021) [9]	Years of production in reserve [10]
Russia *	47,800	47,760	37,400		701.55	68
Iran *	34,000	33,988	32,100		248.3	137
Qatar *	23,900	23,861	24,700		169	141
United States *	17,710	9,067	12,600		977.44	18
Turkmenistan *	10,000	9,838	13,600		87.02	115
Saudi Arabia *	9,430	9,514	6,000		115.6	82
China *	6,650	2,934	8,400		212	31
United Arab Emirates *	6,090	8,210	5,900		63.77	95
Venezuela *	6,000	5,707	6,300		15.9	377
Nigeria *	5,750	5,913	5,500		44.40	130
Algeria *	4,500	4,504	2,300		102.1	44
Iraq *	3,740	3,744	3,500		10.7	350
Australia *	3,230	3,173	2,400		147.1	22
Mozambique *	3,000				5.35	561
Kazakhstan *	2,400	1,898	2,300		20.0	120
Canada *	2,100	2,059	2,400		182.2	12
Azerbaijan *	2,000	1,227	2,500		31.38	64
Egypt *	1,800	2,221	2,100		69.43	26
Kuwait *	1,800	1,784	1,700		21.3	85
Uzbekistan *	1,800	1,564	800		49.70	36
Norway *	1,600	2,314	1,400		115.1	14
Libya	1,500	1,505	1,400		14.6	103
India *	1,400	1,289	1,300		32.3	43
Malaysia *	1,200	2,909	900		70.99	17
Ukraine *	1,100	304	1,100		18.9	58
Indonesia *	1,000	2,866	1,300		58.96	17
Senegal			1,000
Vietnam *	710	203	600		7.02	101
Turkey *	710				0.40	1775
Oman *	650	884	700		39.19	17
Myanmar *	650	273	400		16.3	40
Pakistan *	590	757	400		33.39	18
Argentina *	487	381	400		40.44	12
Yemen *	480		300		0.12	4000
Guyana	453
Brazil *	370	325	300		23.8	16
Angola *	340	422			5.86	58
Peru *	310	513	261		12	26
Trinidad and Tobago *	310	433	290		25.7	12
Bolivia *	310	310	213		15.5	20
Congo *	300	284			0.42	714
Brunei *	260	252	222		11.4	23
Syria *	240	300	269		3.26	74
Israel *	180		589		17.7	10
United Kingdom *	180	269	187		32.48	6
Papua New Guinea *	180		163		11.4	16
Mexico	180	146	178		23.9	8
Thailand *	140	180	143		36.36	4
Cameroon *	140	152			2.3	61
Equatorial Guinea *	140	145			5.83	24
Netherlands *	130	804	130		21.6	6
Bangladesh *	130	346	110		23.9	5
Romania *	100	105	78		9.32	11
Philippines *	99				3	33
Chile *	99	5.30			1.4	71
Poland *	91	56.3	72.2		5.64	16
Colombia *	88	104	86		11.4	8
Bahrain *	82		64.8		18.6	4
Sudan *	80				0	-
Cuba *	71				0.91	78
Tunisia *	65				1.4	46
Namibia *	62				0	-
Rwanda *	60				0.06	1000
Afghanistan *	51				0.079	646
Serbia *	48				0.40	120
Italy *	45	27.1	100		3.2	14
Palestine *	32				0	-
New Zealand *	31				4.13	8
Denmark *	30	73.9	100		1.2	25
Ivory Coast *	30				2.5	12
Croatia	30				0.82	37
Mauritania *	30				0	-
Ethiopia *	30				0	-
Gabon *	30	25.5			0.45	67
Germany	20	39.6	100		4.98	4
Ghana	20				2.92	7
Japan *	20				2.4	8
Ireland *	10				1.6	6
Slovakia	10				0.062	161
Uganda	10				0	-
Ecuador	10	5.4			0.31	32
Georgia	8	8.5			0.01	800
South Korea *	8				0.05	160
France	8				0.02	400
Tanzania *	6				1.3	5
Austria	6				1.2	5
Jordan *	6				0.19	32
Taiwan *	6				0.091	66
Albania	6				0.059	102
Bulgaria	6				0.037	162
Tajikistan *	6				0.02	300
Kyrgyzstan	6				0.02	300
Somalia *	6				0	-
Hungary *	3				1.5	2
Czech Republic	3				0.20	15
Belarus *	3				0.074	41
Somaliland	3	0
Spain	2.55				0.048	53
Morocco *	1.44	474			0.12	12
Benin	1.13				0	-
Greece	0.99				0.06	16
DR Congo	0.99				0	-
Barbados	0.11				0.01	11
Armenia *	0	18.0
World	205,500 (2020)				4,083.09	50

Comparison of proven natural gas reserves from different sources (cubic kilometers, as of 31 December 2014/1 January 2015)

Source	Canada	Iran	Russia	Saudi Arabia	United States	Venezuela
BP [11]	2,000	34,000	32,800	8,200	9,800	5,600
OPEC [12]	2,028	34,020	49,541	8,489	9,580	5,617
U.S. Energy Information Administration [13]	2,535	42,426	59,619	10,393	10,441	6,960

References

1. Rank Order - Natural gas - proved reserves. Retrieved June 2014.
2. Natural gas - proved reserves. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
3. US Energy Information Administration, ^[ permanent dead link ]. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
4. OPEC, Table 3.2 Natural gas proven reserves by country Archived 27 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 1 December 2013.
5. BP, BP Statistical Review of World Energy, June 2013. Archived 6 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
6. U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics, accessed 17 Jan. 2019.
7. OPEC, Annual Statistical Bulletin 2018
8. BP, Statistical Review of World Energy, June 2022.
9. "International - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
10. (EIA Reserves and Production)
11. BP Statistical Review of World Energy, 2015
12. OPEC Statistical Bulletin, 2015.
13. International Data: Natural Gas Reserves, US EIA. Retrieved 3 July 2016.