Groundnuts from 16 Arachis hypogaea L. cultivars were fo u n d to contain oil in the range o f 43 to 507o. Gas-liquid chromatographic analysis o f the oil fa tty acid m e th y l esters revealed the occurrence of palmitic (12.22 to 13.30%), stearic (3 .1 7 to 3.67%), oleic (37.94 to 41.90%) linoleic (3 4 .5 9 to 37.51%), arachidic (1.63 to 1.85%) eicosaenoic (0.99 to 1.22%>), behenic (3.24 to 4.36%>), and lignoceric (1.08 to 1.44%) as the major fatty acids. Cultivars Tainang 7, Kidang and Alabama were high in oil c o n te n t and contained relatively low levels of behenic acid and a high oleic/linoleic acid ratio in their oil.