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True

Alberta holds one of the largest oil reserves in the world.

Claimed by: Commonly stated by Alberta independence advocates

True: True as written according to the settled evidence. How we rate.

This holds up. Canada has about 163 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, ranking it among the top four countries in the world alongside Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Roughly 97 percent of that sits in Alberta's oil sands, so Alberta on its own would still rank near the top globally. A common caveat is that most of these reserves are heavy bitumen that is costlier and more carbon-intensive to extract than conventional crude, but the size of the resource is not in question.

Last reviewed: May 30, 2026