OPEC's oil reserves: 1.213 billion barrels

OPEC member countries hold 1,213.4 billion barrels of oil reserves, representing approximately 81.3 percent of the world's total oil reserves of 1,492.6 billion barrels. This significant control makes OPEC the world's oil trading cartel.

According to the OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin 2016, Venezuela possesses 300.88 billion barrels of oil reserves, accounting for about 24.8 percent of OPEC's reserves. Saudi Arabia ranks second with 266.46 billion barrels (22 percent), followed by Iran with 158 billion barrels (13.1 percent) in third place. Indonesia's oil reserves, in contrast, stand at only 2.23 billion barrels, less than 1 percent of OPEC's total reserves.

A surplus of supply in the market, coupled with weak demand due to the European crisis and a global economic slowdown, caused a sharp decline in world oil prices since mid-2014. Prices, previously above US$100 per barrel, plummeted to below US$30 per barrel in early 2016, impacting oil producers in the Middle East. To boost prices, OPEC members agreed to cut production by 1.2 million barrels, to 32.5 million barrels per day, effective January 2017.