Shale oil production has changed the scenario of not only supply and demand but global oil politics and its bargaining power.

Historically speaking, Middle East or OPEC traditionally has remained stronghold of global oil politics which has now lost its old relevance in the oil market as most of the major shale oil reserve lies outside the region.

Below are the list of six countries with largest shale oil reserve. Kindly note, that actual reserve is much larger than technically recoverable shale oil (TRSO).

• Russia - Russia has largest shale oil reserve, which could be as large as 1.24 terabarrels. STRO is 75 billion barrels and current production rate stands at 10.4 million barrels per day.
   
• US - US stands with second largest shale oil reserve in the world with 58 billion barrels TRSO. US is likely to reach energy independence y 2020.
   
• China - China has the third largest shale oil reserves in the world with 32 billion barrels of TRSO. As of now China produces about 4.42 million barrels/day and still imports large amount of oil. China is likely to explore its shale oil and gas as country's need for energy grows further.
   
• Argentina - The country has 27 billion barrels of TRSO, however thanks to its weak financial conditions it has failed to attract major investments in the sector and lower global oil price is doing less to change the scenario. Current production rate 0.735 million barrels per day.
   
• Libya - The country has 26 billion barrels of TRSO, however war torn region is still struggling to gain back its former glory in oil market. Current production rate is 1.5 million barrels per day.
   
• Venezuela - The country is ranked sixth in shale reserve. The country has 13 million barrels of TRSO. Current production 2.49 million barrels/day. Other than shale oil, Venezuela has largest conventional oil reserve in the world. However weak infrastructure and political instability is unlikely to make the country major oil power in the world.

Britain has recently started to explore its shale reserve, which shows with shale gaining traction in the oil market, future is bleaker for OPEC.