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GEOGRAPHY

Physical - Hydrology
Seas with the Most Significant Oil Reserves
This list features the seas with the most significant quantity of oil reserves on Planet Earth.
RANK | SEA | LOCATION | OIL RESERVES (barrrels) |
1 | Persian Gulf | Middle East | 700 billion |
2 | Caribbean Sea | Central America & Caribbean | 140 billion |
3 | North Sea | Europe | 50 billion |
4 | Caspian Sea | Eurasia | 25 billion |
5 | Gulf of Guinea | West Africa | 18 billion |
6 | Bering Sea | North America | 4 billion |
7 | Andaman Sea | Southeast Asia | 3 billion |
8 | Timor Sea | Southeast Asia | 2 billion |
9 | Sea of Okhotsk | Russia | 1 billion |
10 | Mediterranean Sea | Europe/Africa | 0.5 billion |
References
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) (2023) EIA. Available at: https://www.eia.gov (Accessed: 6 July 2025).
BP (2023) BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2023. Available at: https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy.html (Accessed: 6 July 2025).
International Energy Agency (IEA) (2023) IEA. Available at: https://www.iea.org (Accessed: 6 July 2025).
World Oil Magazine (2023) World Oil. Available at: https://www.worldoil.com (Accessed: 6 July 2025).
Geological Society of America (GSA) (2023) GSA. Available at: https://www.geosociety.org (Accessed: 6 July 2025).
Wikipedia contributors (2023) ‘List of oil fields’, Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oil_fields (Accessed: 6 July 2025).
HowStuffWorks (2023) ‘5 offshore petroleum reserves’, HowStuffWorks. Available at: https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/5-offshore-petroleum-reserves.htm (Accessed: 6 July 2025).
Statista (2023) Largest proven crude oil reserves by region. Available at: https://www.statista.com/chart/32342/largest-proven-crude-oil-reserves-by-region/ (Accessed: 6 July 2025).

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