Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Wednesday he expects the country's oil reserves to jump to 316 billion barrels next year.

Coming along recent new bookings from Iraq and Iran , the upgrade would take Venezuela ahead of Saudi Arabia 's proven reserves of 260 billion barrels.

But analysts have questioned how economic any new Venezuelan reserves could be, as most would come from the heavy and extra-heavy oil in the Orinoco Belt, which is difficult and expensive to extract.

Venezuelan reserves jumped 23% in late 2009 to 211.173 billion barrels, according to government figures, making Venezuela the country with the second-largest crude reserves in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Ramirez was speaking to reporters ahead of an OPEC meeting in Vienna Thursday.
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