Global natural gas reserves by country 1960-2023

Russia has the largest proved natural gas reserves in the world. As of 2023, it held reserves worth 44.2 trillion standard cubic meters worth of the fossil fuel. Iran and Qatar followed, with more than 30 and 20 trillion cubic meters, respectively. Notable new discoveries have been made since 1960, when known reserves were only a fraction of what they are today. 

Determining proved reserves

Used as a source of energy generation and a feedstock in the chemicals industry, natural gas serves a variety of purposes. It is mainly transported in gaseous form via pipelines, but may be shipped via tanker vessels once liquefied. Proved reserves is a measure used to establish recoverable resource volumes. These are linked to known reservoirs and estimated through exploratory drilling. Since 1960, global proved natural gas reserves increased more than ten-fold, reaching a new peak at 206 trillion cubic meters in 2023. Of these, the majority are located in the Middle East.

U.S. is world's largest natural gas producer

The United States is the world’s largest natural gas producer, despite proved reserves being only a third of Russia's. In 2023, the U.S. was responsible for nearly one trillion cubic meters of natural gas being extracted. This compared to a production volume of some 580 billion cubic meters by Russia.