Mauritania Resource Reserves (2026)

1994

2025

What to know

As of 2021, natural gas led Mauritania's reserve mix at 1.000 trillion cubic feet. It also held 0.020 billion barrels of oil. Over the last decade, gas reserves held roughly steady. EIA stopped publishing oil and gas proved reserves in 2023; the figures above use the latest archived release, while coal continues to update through 2023. Beyond fossil fuels, Mauritania produces Iron Ore among USGS-tracked critical minerals. It also holds top-five reserves of Iron Ore.

Key reserves

Oil reserves (2021)

0.02 B bbl

Natural gas reserves (2021)

1.00 TCF

Iron Ore reserves (2025)

10.0 Gt

Key terms

Proved reserves: — Quantities of crude oil or natural gas that geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty are recoverable under existing economic and operating conditions.
Recoverable reserves: — Coal that can be technically and economically extracted with current mining methods at current prices. Excludes inaccessible deposits.
Billion barrels (B bbl): — Unit for oil reserves. One barrel equals 42 US gallons or about 159 litres.
Trillion cubic feet (TCF): — Unit for natural gas reserves. One TCF is roughly 28.3 billion cubic metres.
Million short tons (M ST): — Unit for coal reserves. One short ton equals 2,000 lb or 907 kg.

Crude oil proved reserves

In 2021, Mauritania had 0.020 billion barrels of proved crude oil reserves. Over the prior decade, those reserves declined significantly (-80%).

Natural gas proved reserves

In 2021, Mauritania held 1.000 trillion cubic feet of proved natural gas reserves. Reserves held roughly steady over the prior decade.

The bottom line

Mauritania's reserve base was built around natural gas, the cleaner-burning of the fossil fuels.

Critical minerals (USGS)

Mauritania produces Iron Ore among USGS-tracked critical minerals.

USGS marks 2025 production figures and all reserve estimates as estimated; some earlier production years are USGS estimates as well. Each commodity below charts its own mine-production history, with the 2025 reserve shown beneath its chart.

Iron Ore production

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration · Updated June 2026

What to know

Key reserves

Oil reserves (2021)

0.02 B bbl

Natural gas reserves (2021)

1.00 TCF

Iron Ore reserves (2025)

10.0 Gt

Key terms

Proved reserves: — Quantities of crude oil or natural gas that geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty are recoverable under existing economic and operating conditions.
Recoverable reserves: — Coal that can be technically and economically extracted with current mining methods at current prices. Excludes inaccessible deposits.
Billion barrels (B bbl): — Unit for oil reserves. One barrel equals 42 US gallons or about 159 litres.
Trillion cubic feet (TCF): — Unit for natural gas reserves. One TCF is roughly 28.3 billion cubic metres.
Million short tons (M ST): — Unit for coal reserves. One short ton equals 2,000 lb or 907 kg.

Crude oil proved reserves

In 2021, Mauritania had 0.020 billion barrels of proved crude oil reserves. Over the prior decade, those reserves declined significantly (-80%).

Natural gas proved reserves

In 2021, Mauritania held 1.000 trillion cubic feet of proved natural gas reserves. Reserves held roughly steady over the prior decade.

The bottom line

Mauritania's reserve base was built around natural gas, the cleaner-burning of the fossil fuels.

Critical minerals (USGS)

Mauritania produces Iron Ore among USGS-tracked critical minerals.

Algeria

Mali

Senegal

Western Sahara

What to know

Key reserves

Crude oil proved reserves

Natural gas proved reserves

The bottom line

Critical minerals (USGS)

Iron Ore production

Algeria

Mali

Senegal

Western Sahara

What to know

Key reserves

Crude oil proved reserves

Natural gas proved reserves

The bottom line

Critical minerals (USGS)

Iron Ore production