Russia, Iran and Qatar control 51% of global proven natural gas reserves

Natural gas plays a key role in the global energy mix, being widely used for electricity generation, heating and as an industrial raw material.

Visualcapitalist.com presents the ranking of the top ten countries with the largest proven natural gas reserves in the world, according to Oil & Gas Journal data, obtained through the US Energy Information Administration.

At the top of the ranking is Russia, with the largest proven natural gas reserves in the world: 1.688 trillion cubic feet (one cubic foot = approximately 0.0283168 cubic meters). The proven reserves indicate that these natural gas deposits are economically viable to extract at current market prices. Russia has 40% more gas than Iran and almost three times more than the United States, according to the cited source.

The top three countries, Russia, Iran (1,200 trillion cubic feet) and Qatar (843 trillion cubic feet), hold 51% of the world's proven natural gas reserves, or 3.7 quadrillion cubic feet of the estimated 7.3 quadrillion cubic feet worldwide. These top three countries have remained in the same positions in the ranking since 2023.

Fourth place is the United States (615 trillion cubic feet), followed by Turkmenistan (400 trillion cubic feet), Saudi Arabia (336 trillion cubic feet), the United Arab Emirates (290 trillion cubic feet), China (265 trillion cubic feet), Nigeria (209 trillion cubic feet), Venezuela (195 trillion cubic feet).

Together, these top ten countries account for 83%, or more than four-fifths, of global gas reserves.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, natural gas has become a geopolitical flashpoint. Europe, once heavily dependent on Russian gas, has since struggled to diversify its energy sources and build LNG import infrastructure. Meanwhile, global demand remains robust, with natural gas seen by some as a transitional fuel from coal and oil to clean energy.

• Russia's gas exports fell 4.4% in the first half of 2025

Russia's liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports fell 4.4% in the first half of 2025, at an annual rate, to 15.2 million tonnes, amid Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine, preliminary data published by LSEG showed, cited by Agerpres.

In particular, the US decision to impose sanctions on companies and ships linked to Russia's new Arctic LNG 2 export facility has effectively frozen the projects, due to Moscow's difficulties in finding buyers.

President Donald Trump has said he wants the European Union to buy more US liquefied natural gas, which will increase the amount available.

In June, Russian liquefied natural gas exports fell by 4.4% year-on-year to 2.15 million tonnes, after a 15% decline in May (2.53 million tonnes), according to LSEG data. In addition, Russia's liquefied natural gas exports to Europe fell by 13% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, to 7.9 million tonnes, down 14.4% in June.

Russia's LNG exports by sea to Europe have surpassed pipeline exports after Russian gas transit via Ukraine was halted on January 1, 2025.

In June, Novatek's LNG plant in Siberia (Yamal) cut its total exports by 1.2% to 1.6 million tonnes. Gazprom's Sakhalin-2 field cut exports by a fifth to 400,000 tonnes. In the first half of 2025, exports from this project stood at five million tonnes, up from 4.9 million tonnes in the same period in 2024.

Russia has the capacity to export LNG after expanding its "ghost fleet” used to circumvent sanctions on Russian oil after gas exports to Europe fell significantly, analysts say.

Markets are closely watching Russia's attempt to find buyers for its Arctic LNG 2 gas. The increase in exports will put pressure on global gas prices.

Traders are waiting to see whether the US or Europe will tighten restrictions on Arctic LNG 2.

"Now is the time to increase pressure on Russia's energy revenues,” said Geoffrey Pyatt of the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, noting: "European leaders have expressed their determination to abandon all Russian gas imports, which makes it even more important for the US to maintain pressure on the Russian energy group Novatek.”