A two-piece oil ring for use in an internal combustion engine, made from a base material consisting essentially of more than 0.8 wt % but less than 0.95 wt % of C, not more than 1.0 wt % of Si, not more than 1.0 wt % of Mn, from 15.0 wt % to 20.0 wt % of Cr, 0.5 to 3.0 wt % of one or both of Mo and W in terms of (Mo+W/2), 0.05 to 2.0 wt % of one or both of V and Nb in terms of (V+Nb/2) and the balance substantially Fe and incidental impurities, said base material having been subjected to hardening and tempering so as to exhibit a hardness ranging from HV300 to HV450, said oil ring having a substantially H- or X-shaped cross-section defined by radially inner and outer circumferential grooves formed therein, a web portion interconnecting left and right halves of the H- or X-shaped cross-section having a thickness which is not greater than 0.3 in terms of a ratio to a total thickness of said left and right halves, said oil ring further having a plurality of oil passage holes formed in said web portion at a spacing from one another in a circumferential direction and a nitrided layer formed on at least a sliding surface thereof which makes a sliding contact with an inner surface of a cylinder of said internal combustion engine, and wherein at least one of said grooves has a substantially flat bottom, and wherein the following conditions are met:
- W-b.gtoreq.1.4 t,
- C.gtoreq.t,
- wherein:
- W=a width of said substantially flattened bottom of the circumferential groove,
- b=a breadth of said oil passage hole,
- t=a height of a breadthwise wall surface of said oil passage hole, and
- c=the spacing between adjacent oil passage holes.