List of countries by natural gas proven reserves explained

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 that Russia has by far the 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 and Africa, deepwater drilling, estimates are undergoing frequent updates, mostly increasing. Since 2000, some countries, notably the US and Canada, have seen large increases in proved gas reserves due to development of shale gas, but shale gas deposits in most countries are yet to be added to reserve calculations.

Data

* indicates "Natural gas in COUNTRY or TERRITORY" or "Natural resources of COUNTRY or TERRITORY" links.

Proven Reserves (km³)
Country	U.S. EIA (2021)^[6]	OPEC (start of 2018)^[7]	BP (end of 2020)^[8]	Production km³/year (2021)^[9]	Years of production in reserve^[10]
	47,800	47,760	37,400	701.55	68.1
	34,000	33,988	32,100	248.3	140
	23,900	23,861	24,700	169.0	141
	17,710^[11]	9,067	12,600	977.44	18.1
	10,000	9,838	13,600	87.02	100
	9,430	9,514	6,000	115.6	81.6
	6,650	2,934	8,400	212.0	31.4
	6,090	8,210	5,900	63.77	95.5
	6,000	5,707	6,300	15.9	400
	5,750	5,913	5,500	44.40	130
	4,500	4,504	2,300	102.1	44.1
	3,740	3,744	3,500	10.7	350
	3,230	3,173	2,400	147.1	22
	3,000			5.35	600
	2,400	1,898	2,300	20.0	120
	2,100	2,059	2,400	182.2	12
	2,000	1,227	2,500	31.38	60
	1,800	1,564	800	49.70	36
	1,800	2,221	2,100	69.43	26
	1,800	1,784	1,700	21.3	85
	1,600	2,314	1,400	115.1	14
	1,500	1,505	1,400	14.6	100
	1,400	1,289	1,300	32.3	43
	1,200	2,909	900	70.99	17
	1,100	304	1,100	18.9	58
	1,000	2,866	1,300	58.96	20
			1,000
	710			0.40	8
	710	203	600	7.02	100
	650	884	700	39.19	17
	650	273	400	16.3	40
	590	757	400	33.39	18
	480		300	0.12	4,000
	453
	400	381	400	40.44	10
	370	325	300	23.8	16
	340	422		5.86	58
	310	513	261	12	26
	310	433	290	25.7	12
	310	310	213	15.5	20
	300	284		0.42	700
	260	252	222	11.4	23
	240	300	269	3.26	74
	180		163	11.4	16
	180	146	178	23.9	7.5
	180	269	187	32.48	5.5
	180		589	17.7	10
	140	180	143	36.36	3.9
	140	145		5.83	24
	140	152		2.3	61
	130	804	130	21.6	6.0
	130	346	110	23.9	5.4
	100	105	78	9.32	10
	99			3	10
	99	5.30		1.4	71
	91	56.3	72.2	5.64	16
	88	104	86	11.4	7.7
	82		64.8	18.6	2.8
	80			0	-
	71			0.91	78
	65			1.4	46
	62			0	-
	60			0.06	1,000
	51			0.079	650
	48			0.40	120
	45	27.1	100	3.20	14
	31			4.13	7.5
	30			2.5	10
	30			0	-
	30	73.9	100	1.2	20
	30	25.5		0.45	70
	30			0.82	40
	30			0	-
	20	39.6	100	4.98	4
	20			2.92	7
	20			2.4	8
	-			0.006 (2019)	3,333
	10			0.062	200
	10			0	-
	10	5.4		0.31	30
	10			1.6	6
	8	8.5		0.01	800
	8			0.05	200
	8			0.02	400
	6			1.2	5
	6			1.3	5
	6			0.091	70
	6			0.19	30
	6			0.037	200
	6			0	-
	6			0.02	300
	6			0.02	300
	6			0.059	100
	-			1.1	2.7
	3			0.20	20
	3			0.074	40
	3	0			0
	3			1.5	2
	2.55			0.048	53
	1.44	474		0.12	12
	1.13			0	-
	0.99			0	-
	0.99			0.06	200
	0.11			0.01	10
	0	18.0		0
style=text-align:left		205,500 (2020)			4,083.09	50.33

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^[12]	2,000	34,000	32,800	8,200	9,800	5,600
OPEC^[13]	2,028	34,020	49,541	8,489	9,580	5,617
U.S. Energy Information Administration^[14]	2,535	42,426	59,619	10,393	10,441	6,960

Notes and References

https://web.archive.org/web/20130615230151/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2253rank.html Rank Order - Natural gas - proved reserves
https://web.archive.org/web/20130615230151/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2253rank.html Natural gas - proved reserves
US Energy Information Administration, http://www.eia.gov/todayenergy/detail.cfm?id=23472. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
OPEC, Table 3.2 Natural gas proven reserves by country . Retrieved 1 December 2013.
BP, BP Statistical Review of World Energy, June 2013.
U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics, accessed 17 Jan. 2019.
OPEC, Annual Statistical Bulletin 2018
BP, Statistical Review of World Energy, June 2022.
Web site: International - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) . www.eia.gov . 25 July 2023.
(EIA Reserves and Production)
Web site: Proved reserves of U.S. natural gas increased by 152.1 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) (32%), from 473.3 Tcf at year-end 2020 to 625.4 Tcf at year-end 2021. December 30, 2022 .
https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/pdf/energy-economics/statistical-review-2015/bp-statistical-review-of-world-energy-2015-full-report.pdf BP Statistical Review of World Energy, 2015
http://www.opec.org/opec_web/static_files_project/media/downloads/publications/ASB2015.pdf OPEC Statistical Bulletin, 2015
http://www.eia.gov/cfapps/ipdbproject/IEDIndex3.cfm?tid=3&pid=3&aid=6 International Data: Natural Gas Reserves