The 930 billion short tons of recoverable coal reserves estimated by the Energy Information Administration are equal to about 4,116 BBOE (billion barrels of oil equivalent). The amount of coal burned during 2007 was estimated at 7.075 billion short tons, or 133.179 quadrillion BTU's. This is an average of 18.8 million BTU per short ton. In terms of heat content, this is about 57,000,000 barrels (9,100,000 m3) of oil equivalent per day. By comparison in 2007, natural gas provided 51,000,000 barrels (8,100,000 m3) of oil equivalent per day, while oil provided 85,800,000 barrels per day.

BP, in its 2007 report, estimated at 2006 end that there were 909,064 million tons of proven coal reserves worldwide, or 147 years reserves-to-production ratio. This figure only includes reserves classified as "proven"; exploration drilling programs by mining companies, particularly in under-explored areas, are continually providing new reserves. In many cases, companies are aware of coal deposits that have not been sufficiently drilled to qualify as "proven". However, some nations haven't updated their information and assume reserves remain at the same levels even with withdrawals. Collective projections generally predict that global peak coal production may occur sometime around 2025 at 30 percent above current production in the best case scenario, depending on future coal production rates.

Of the three fossil fuels, coal has the most widely distributed reserves; coal is mined in over 100 countries, and on all continents except Antarctica. The largest reserves are found in the USA, Russia, China, India and Australia. Note the table below.

Proved recoverable coal reserves (million tons (teragrams))
Country Bituminous & Anthracite SubBituminous Lignite TOTAL Percentage of World Total
United States 108,501 98,618 30,176 237,295 22.6
Russia 49,088 97,472 10,450 157,010 14.4
China 62,200 33,700 18,600 114,500 12.6
Australia 37,100 2,100 37,200 76,500 8.9
India 56,100 0 4,500 60,600 7.0
Germany 99 0 40,600 40,699 4.7
Ukraine 15,351 16,577 1,945 33,873 3.9
Kazakhstan 21,500 0 12,100 33,600 3.9
South Africa 30,156 0 0 30,156 3.5
Serbia 9 361 13,400 13,770 1.6
Colombia 6,366 380 0 6,746 0.8
Canada 3,474 872 2,236 6,528 0.8
Poland 4,338 0 1,371 5,709 0.7
Indonesia 1,520 2,904 1,105 5,529 0.6
Brazil 0 4,559 0 4,559 0.5
Greece 0 0 3,020 3,020 0.4
Bosnia and Herzegovina 484 0 2,369 2,853 0.3
Mongolia 1,170 0 1,350 2,520 0.3
Bulgaria 2 190 2,174 2,366 0.3
Pakistan 0 166 1,904 2,070 0.3
Turkey 529 0 1,814 2,343 0.3
Uzbekistan 47 0 1,853 1,900 0.2
Hungary 13 439 1,208 1,660 0.2
Thailand 0 0 1,239 1,239 0.1
Mexico 860 300 51 1,211 0.1
Iran 1,203 0 0 1,203 0.1
Czech Republic 192 0 908 1,100 0.1
Kyrgyzstan 0 0 812 812 0.1
Albania 0 0 794 794 0.1
North Korea 300 300 0 600 0.1
New Zealand 33 205 333-7,000 571-15,000 0.1
Spain 200 300 30 530 0.1
Laos 4 0 499 503 0.1
Zimbabwe 502 0 0 502 0.1
Argentina 0 0 500 500 0.1
All others 3,421 1,346 846 5,613 0.7
Total world 404,762 260,789 195,387 860,938 100