Venezuelan Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez Wednesday said his country has the largest oil reserves in the world, at 297 billion certified barrels.

"At the end of 2010, we had 217 billion barrels, and now at the beginning of this year, we are in possession of 297 billion certified barrels," he was quoted as saying by local press Wednesday.

Venezuela thereby surpasses Saudi Arabia, which has 266 billion certified barrels, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Without giving figures, on Jan. 15, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said in the National Assembly that Venezuela's oil reserves were the largest in the world.

Chavez at the time said that the certification process in Venezuela was not yet finished and that the total estimation is about 300 billion barrels.

Venezuela was the world's eighth biggest oil producer in 2009, according to OPEC. The country's new reserves total was provided by state-owned giant Petroleos de Venezuela.

Of Venezuela's total oil reserves, only 20 percent is light crude, and the rest is heavy and extra heavy oil. That's why Venezuela has been inviting other countries to extract and process its crude oil through joint projects.

Most of Venezuela's oil reserves were found along the Orinoco Oil Strip, in the country's central eastern part. Last year, about 30 companies from more than 20 different countries were operating there.

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