1) Russian Federation

Russian Bear

Technically recoverable shale oil: 75billion barrels
Prime prospect locations: Timan-Pechora Basin, Bazhenov Formation
Current oil production (bpd): 10.4 million
Current gas production (tcf): 23.7

By far the leader of the pack in the shale oil stakes, the largest country in the world by land mass also boasts the planet’s largest shale oil prospect in the form of the Bazhenov Formation, a part of the West Siberian Basin. At 2.3 million square kilometres it is a full 80 times bigger than the North Dakota’s Bakken shale.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates risked shale oil in-place in the Bazhenov at 1.243 terabarrels. That is greater than the holdings of all of the 12 OPEC member nations combined. If 75 billion barrels or 1/17 of the Bazhenov's stock were exploited then it would fuel the world’s ninth most populous nation for more than 34,000 years.