“When you add the United States and Venezuela together, they control more than 60% of the oil in the world.”

• Venezuela does hold the world's largest proved crude oil reserves — roughly 303 billion barrels, or about 17–18% of the global proved total — so the claim's implicit premise that Venezuela is an oil heavyweight is correct (EIA country analysis; CIA World Factbook country comparison).
• The United States has been the world's largest producer of petroleum and other liquids since 2018, supplying roughly 20% of global output (~20–22 million b/d of total liquids, ~13 million b/d crude), so on a *production* basis the U.S. share is large (EIA FAQ).
• If one abandons the standard 'proved reserves' metric and counts total oil *in place* / technically speculative resources, the numbers grow enormously: the Orinoco Belt holds on the order of 1.2–1.4 trillion barrels in place, and the U.S. Green River oil-shale formation contains an estimated 1.5–3 trillion barrels of kerogen in place (USGS/EIA). Under that non-standard framing, a 'more than half the world's oil' talking point can be constructed — but oil-in-place is not oil anyone 'controls' or can produce, and such figures are not comparable to global reserve totals.
• Combined, the two countries do sit at or near the top of both key league tables (Venezuela #1 in reserves, U.S. #1 in production), which likely explains the intuition behind the exaggeration.

• Proved reserves: world total is roughly 1.6–1.7 trillion barrels. Venezuela ~303 billion (≈17–18%), the United States ~44–48 billion (≈3%). Combined that is roughly 20–21% — barely a third of the claimed 60% (EIA, CIA World Factbook, Energy Institute Statistical Review).
• Production: global supply is roughly 100–103 million b/d. The U.S. contributes about 20–22 million b/d of total liquids; Venezuela has averaged only about 0.7–1.0 million b/d in recent years (well under 1% of world supply). Combined ≈21%, again nowhere near 60%.
• Saudi Arabia (~267 Bbbl), Iran (~209 Bbbl), Canada (~170 Bbbl), Iraq (~145 Bbbl), Russia, Kuwait and the UAE together hold well over half of world proved reserves on their own — mathematically leaving no room for a U.S.+Venezuela 60% share.
• On any of the three standard metrics used by energy agencies — proved reserves, current production, or export volumes — the U.S.-plus-Venezuela figure lands in the 20–25% range. Reaching 60% requires substituting a non-standard 'oil in place' metric for one country while comparing it against proved reserves for the rest of the world, which is an apples-to-oranges error.
• On exports specifically the claim is weakest of all: the U.S. is a modest net exporter of crude and Venezuela's exports have collapsed under sanctions and infrastructure decay; the two together do not remotely 'control' global oil trade, which is dominated by Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq and the UAE.

93/100 — the lab’s own confidence in the score above, not a second reading of the claim.

U.S. Energy Information Administrationgov · 97 · U.S. Energy Information Administrationgov · 97 · CIA World Factbookgov · 88 · U.S. Energy Information Administration (U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves report)gov · 97 · Energy Institute (formerly BP Statistical Review of World Energy)other · 92 · U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Datagov · 96 · International Energy Agencyother · 93

• Venezuela is legitimately one of the largest oil-reserve holders: EIA says Venezuela has the world's largest proved crude-oil reserves, about 303 billion barrels. The United States also has substantial proved reserves; EIA reported 48.3 billion barrels of U.S. crude oil and lease condensate proved reserves at year-end 2023.
• A very loose, nonstandard reading based on unconventional resources makes both countries look larger: USGS estimated 513 billion barrels of technically recoverable heavy oil in Venezuela's Orinoco Oil Belt. But that is not the same as proved reserves or 'control' of world oil, and it still does not by itself verify the 60% figure.

• Using the standard metric for 'oil in the world'--proved crude-oil reserves--the claim is far off. The CIA World Factbook's country-comparison table puts world proved crude-oil reserves at roughly 1.7 trillion barrels, while Venezuela plus the United States total only about 350 billion barrels, around one-fifth of the world, not more than 60%.
• Using recent EIA figures gives the same result: Venezuela is about 303 billion barrels and the United States 48.3 billion barrels, for about 351 billion barrels combined. Against a world total near 1.7 trillion barrels, that is about 20-21%; to exceed 60%, the two countries would need to control more than 1 trillion barrels.
• A production-based interpretation also does not rescue the claim. The United States is the world's largest oil producer, but Venezuela's production is much smaller; combined U.S.-Venezuela output is nowhere near 60% of global oil production.
• The word 'control' is misleading. Proved reserves, technically recoverable resources, oil in place, and current production are different concepts; oil physically in the ground is not automatically economically recoverable or controlled by a government or market actor.

94/100 — the lab’s own confidence in the score above, not a second reading of the claim.

U.S. Energy Information Administrationgov · 96 · U.S. Energy Information Administrationgov · 96 · CIA World Factbookgov · 88 · U.S. Geological Surveygov · 95 · BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2022other · 84

• Venezuela does possess the largest proven crude oil reserves of any single country in the world.
• The United States is currently the world's leading daily producer of crude oil.

• According to data from OPEC and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), total global proven oil reserves stand at approximately 1.5 to 1.7 trillion barrels.
• Venezuela's world-leading reserves are estimated at approximately 303 billion barrels, which accounts for roughly 17% to 19% of the global total.
• The United States holds roughly 44 to 50 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, accounting for approximately 2.5% to 3% of the global total.
• Combined, the United States and Venezuela control roughly 20% to 22% of the world's proven oil reserves, which is mathematically nowhere near the 60% alleged in the claim.
• Even if the word 'control' was interpreted as daily oil production rather than reserves, the United States produces roughly 20% to 22% of the world's oil and Venezuela produces roughly 1%, combining for less than a quarter of global production.

99/100 — the lab’s own confidence in the score above, not a second reading of the claim.

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)gov · 90 · U.S. Energy Information Administrationgov · 95 · Worldometerother · 75

• Venezuela has the world's largest proven crude-oil reserves, and the United States also has a large reserve base. [However, no credible source in the reviewed evidence supports their combined share exceeding 60%.]
• A U.S.-Venezuela arrangement reportedly gives the United States rights to Venezuelan fields containing about 65 billion barrels of proven reserves; counting those rights does not make the countries’ combined reserves exceed 60% of the global total. [8]

• The U.S. Energy Information Administration figures cited by The New York Times put Venezuela's proven reserves at about 303 billion barrels and U.S. reserves at about 46 billion barrels. Together, that is approximately 349 billion barrels out of nearly 1.6 trillion worldwide, or about 22%, not more than 60%. [2]
• The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reports global proven crude-oil reserves of 1,567 billion barrels at the end of 2024. Using the reported U.S. and Venezuelan figures, their combined share is about 22.3%. [6]
• Associated Press independently concludes that the combined U.S.-Venezuelan reserves account for only about 22% of the world's nearly 1.6 trillion barrels. [8]
• If 'oil' means current production rather than reserves, the claim is also unsupported: the reported combined U.S. and Venezuelan production is about 23% of global production, far below 60%. [2]
• France 24's fact-check similarly estimates the combined share at roughly 21.9% of global proven reserves and about 23.2% of current production. [4]
• The statement is ambiguous about whether 'control' means geological reserves, ownership, legal rights, or production. Under the standard reserves and production measures reported by official statistics and fact-checkers, it is substantially false. [2][4][8]

97/100 — the lab’s own confidence in the score above, not a second reading of the claim.

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countriesgov · 95 · The New York Timesnews · 93 · Associated Pressfactcheck · 96 · France 24factcheck · 88 · BBCnews · 94

• Venezuela holds the world's largest proven oil reserves, typically reported at roughly 300 billion barrels (about 17-18% of the global total).

• U.S. proved crude oil reserves are on the order of 44-69 billion barrels depending on source, year, and whether lease condensate is included.
• Global proved oil reserves are approximately 1.6-1.7 trillion barrels.
• U.S. plus Venezuelan proved reserves therefore total roughly 350-370 billion barrels, or about 20-22% of the world, not more than 60%.
• Combined oil production of the two countries is roughly 13-15 million barrels per day versus a world total near 100 million barrels per day (~14%), also far below 60%.
• No standard definition of oil (proved reserves, production, or consumption) yields a combined U.S.+Venezuela share near 60%.

88/100 — the lab’s own confidence in the score above, not a second reading of the claim.

U.S. Energy Information Administrationgov · 95 · CIA World Factbookgov · 90 · Our World in Dataedu · 88 · Energy Institute (Statistical Review of World Energy)other · 92