Oil is of immense importance to the entire world, effectively propelling the development of modern industry and holding an unshakable position in the global economy.

As a non-renewable resource, countries are vying for it by all means necessary. This naturally piques curiosity: just how much oil reserves do the United States, China, and Japan have?

Lifeblood of Industry

Oil is incredibly important to our daily lives, from the public transportation we use for commuting to the fertilizers needed for agricultural planting, and even down to the clothes we wear and the cosmetics used by women, all are inseparable from oil.

Thus, oil is also hailed as "liquid gold." It can be said that oil is the most crucial lifeblood of the entire industrial era, firmly grasping the pulse of national life.

A country that possesses oil is akin to holding the key to wealth. These nations not only have an advantage in energy resources but also wield significant influence on the international stage.

However, due to the uneven distribution of oil, some countries with large oil reserves are more likely to accumulate wealth, while resource-poor nations must rely on imports to meet their oil reserves.

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U.S. Oil Reserves

The United States is one of the world's largest crude oil producers. But just how much oil reserves do they have?According to a report by Financial World in April 2023, the "World Population Review" states that when combining crude oil and condensate, the United States has a combined crude and condensate oil reserve of 68.8 billion barrels. According to data from the EIA, the total reserves of crude oil and condensate are approximately 74 billion barrels.

This figure is among the top in the world. Unlike other countries that only exploit oil within their borders, the United States has been aware of the potential of this black liquid for combustion since drilling its first oil well in 1859. The ignition of the liquid upon contact with fire marked the beginning of an era where oil extraction grew with the advent of the industrial age.

Oil extraction spread across the United States like a "plague," with drilling sites becoming a common sight. However, due to the lack of experience in oil extraction at the time, many people failed to find the oil they sought. But as technology advanced, American oil extractors continued to move westward. In 1920, the third-largest oil field in the world was discovered in California, attracting many wealthy individuals to join the "oil refining" ranks, hoping to get a share of the profits.

By 1930, with the progress of technology, American oil exploration began to extend offshore, with the Gulf of Mexico becoming the most important oil-producing region. The discovery of the North Slope oil fields in Alaska in the 1960s marked a period of rapid economic growth for the United States.

In the 1970s, the United States had already set its sights on Middle Eastern oil and signed a military agreement with Saudi Arabia. Although the content of the agreement was not disclosed, economists have inferred that as one of the world's most important oil-producing countries, Saudi Arabia would price and settle all its oil exports in US dollars and invest its surplus oil revenue in purchasing US Treasury bonds.

In return, the United States provided military assistance to Saudi Arabia, making oil a part of the US dollar's hegemony. Even though the United States does not have oil reserves as large as those in the Middle East, its influence on global oil prices is significant.

Japan's Oil Reserves

As a developed country in Asia, Japan does not have as many domestic oil resources as the United States. Being a small island nation, Japan often suffers from environmental challenges. Despite its high level of industrialization, oil extraction is minimal in the country.Although the maritime areas under Japan's jurisdiction contain oil, the difficulty of extraction is too great, and most of the oil in Japan is imported. For instance, in 2022, 94% of Japan's oil imports came from the Middle East. With the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War, Japan imposed an embargo on Russian oil, becoming even more reliant on the Middle East.

Long-term oil imports also bring many disadvantages. Fluctuations in international oil prices, whether rising or falling, can impact Japan's economy. For example, in the 1970s, two oil crises occurred, causing significant panic in Japan. The oil crisis that erupted in 1973 was primarily due to the Fourth Middle East War. The Middle East oil-exporting countries, in their efforts to strike against Israel, announced a reduction in oil production and an increase in oil prices, which directly led to inflation in Japan.

In order to secure oil resources, Japan has been continuously improving its relations with Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia. Due to the scarcity of oil resources, Japan began stockpiling oil quite early, and their reserves are astonishingly high. Reports indicate that Japan possesses 8.2 million tons of oil reserves.

It is quite impressive for a small country to have such a substantial amount of oil reserves. In 2021, due to the impact of the energy war, the United States decided to release 50 million barrels of oil reserves to lower oil prices, and Japan followed suit by releasing 4.2 million barrels of oil reserves.

These 4.2 million barrels of oil represent approximately one to two days' worth of Japan's demand. The Japanese government released data in September 2021 showing that "Japan has oil reserves equivalent to about 240 days of its domestic demand, with national reserves accounting for 145 days, private reserves such as oil companies for 90 days, and the remainder being joint reserves with oil-producing countries."

The Japanese have their own set of secrets when it comes to storing oil. For example, they buy in large quantities when oil prices are low and store it to avoid economic impacts when prices rise. They also use a portion of the oil they buy and store the rest, allowing them to accumulate a significant amount of oil over time.

Oil Reserves in China

Oil holds an important position in China. Since the 1960s, when China began importing oil, and throughout the 1950s, China was known as a "poor oil" country. However, with the establishment of the People's Republic of China, countless oil workers have worked tirelessly to extract oil, allowing our country to shed the label of a "poor oil nation."As early as ancient times, people had already begun to utilize petroleum. At that time, petroleum was widely used for lighting, medicine, lubrication, warfare, and more. The main oil-producing regions in ancient China were concentrated in the northern part of Shaanxi and the Yumen area of Gansu.

For instance, in 578 AD, the Turks launched a large-scale military offensive against the Northern Zhou Dynasty from the west with tens of thousands of troops. Faced with an enemy force several times larger, the defending Northern Zhou army chose to use the city's petroleum as a defensive weapon. This is also the earliest recorded use of petroleum in Chinese history for military purposes.

In 1905, the Qing government allocated 80,000 taels of silver to establish the "Yanchang Petroleum Factory" in Yanchang County. Two years later, the first oil well on the Chinese mainland officially produced oil, marking the beginning of modern petroleum industry in China and putting an end to the notion that mainland China did not produce petroleum.

The initial scale of oil extraction at the Yanchang Petroleum Factory was 1 to 1.5 tons per day. Although the quantity was small, the quality of the products such as kerosene, gun oil, and candles refined here was very good.

Especially during the Anti-Japanese War and the Liberation War, this oil well also became one of the few strategic resources for our party. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the domestic industry was in a state of disrepair, and petroleum became an important strategic material.

During the Anti-Japanese period, Japan conducted frantic petroleum exploration in China, attempting to find large-scale oil fields to meet the needs of war expansion. As early as 1928, Japan had organized multiple resource survey teams in the Northeast region, hoping to discover potential petroleum resources.

However, they ultimately found nothing. At that time, it was also a common international belief that China was a poor country in terms of oil. But our renowned geologist Li Siguang did not agree with this view. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Li Siguang led a scientific research team to search for petroleum resources throughout the country.

In 1949, China's annual petroleum production was only 70,000 tons. With the establishment of the first petroleum industrial base in Yumen, Gansu, China successively discovered the Karamay oil field in Xinjiang, and the annual production of petroleum quickly increased to 3.73 million tons.

In September 1959, the Daqing oil field emerged. On September 23, 1962, the Ying 2 well drilled in Dongying, Shandong, yielded a high-yield oil flow of 55 tons per day, which also marked the beginning of oil and gas exploration and development in the Bohai Bay Basin.By 1963, Premier Zhou officially declared: "The era of Chinese people using foreign oil has come to an end." After several more decades of development, China's oil production has continued to increase. Although China's oil resources are not as abundant as those in the Middle East, they are still sufficient to meet domestic demand. Even if some oil fields become depleted, new ones will be discovered and exploited.

On November 17, 1963, Zhou Enlai announced at the Fourth Session of the Second National People's Congress that China's oil was essentially self-sufficient.

According to an announcement by CCTV News on April 23, 2024, China's remaining technically recoverable oil reserves amount to 3.85 billion tons, and the remaining technically recoverable natural gas reserves are 6,683.47 billion cubic meters.

The "foundation" of China's oil and gas energy is remarkable. China has transformed from a once "oil-poor country" to a major oil power today, thanks to the hard work of countless oil workers. In the future, China's oil industry will continue to increase investment in technological innovation, cultivate and attract more scientific and technological talents, and strengthen cooperation with domestic and international research institutions.

It is believed that in the near future, our oil extraction technology will make further progress. Efforts will continue to be made in multiple areas, such as oil reserves, the development of new energy sources, and improving energy utilization efficiency, to ensure national energy security and support the sustainable development of the economy and society.