RusEnergy

BEIRUT, April 7 (RIA Novosti) - Iraq has oil reserves that are estimated at over 300 billion barrels, making the country the world leader in this sphere, the Iraqi oil minister said Saturday. In his interview with the Lebanese Al Mashrik newspaper, Hussain al-Shahristani did not specify, though, whether this figure referred to confirmed oil reserves or to a general estimate. According to official data, Iraq's confirmed oil reserves total about 112 billion barrels and the country has another 200 bln barrels in undiscovered reserves. Saudi Arabia is considered the current global leader in confirmed oil reserves with 262 bln barrels, followed by Iraq (112 bln barrels) and Venezuela (about 80.8 bln barrels). The Iraqi minister also said that his country could export up to 1.9 million barrels of oil per day, but the current unstable situation in Iraq, especially frequent terrorist acts at oil production and transportation facilities freeze the export level at 1.6 million bbl/d.