Orinoco tar sands
| Orinoco Petroleum Belt | |
|---|---|
Orinoco oil belt assessment unit, USGS
|
|
| Country | Venezuela |
| Location | Guárico, Anzoátegui, Monagas, Delta Amacuro |
| Offshore/onshore | onshore |
| Operator | Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. |
| Partners | Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., Chevron Corporation, Repsol YPF, Mitsubishi Corporation, Inpex, Suelopetrol CA, Eni, PetroVietnam, Petronas, Petropar, ONGC, Indian Oil Corporation, Oil India, CNPC, Rosneft, Gazprom Neft, Lukoil, TNK-BP, Surgutneftegaz |
| Field history | |
| Start of production | 2013 (expected) |
| Production | |
| Estimated oil in place | 1,200,000 million barrels (~1.6×1011 t) |
The Orinoco Belt is a territory in the southern strip of the eastern Orinoco River Basin in Venezuela which overlies the world's largest deposits of petroleum. Its local Spanish name is Faja Petrolífera del Orinoco (Orinoco Petroleum Belt).
The Orinoco Belt is located Guárico and south of the Anzoátegui, Monagas, and Delta Amacuro states, and it follows the line of the river. It is approximately 600 kilometres (370 mi) from east to west, and 70 kilometres (43 mi) from north to south, with an area about 55,314 square kilometres (21,357 sq mi).
The Orinoco Belt consists of large deposits of extra heavy crude. Venezuela's heavy oil deposits of about 1,200 billion barrels (1.9×1011 m3), found primarily in the Orinoco Petroleum Belt, are estimated to approximately equal the world's reserves of lighter oil.Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. has estimated that the producible reserves of the Orinoco Belt are up to 235 billion barrels (3.74×1010 m3) which would make it the largest petroleum reserve in the world, slightly ahead of the similar unconventional oil source in the Athabasca oil sands, and before Saudi Arabia In 2009, the US Geological Survey increased the estimated reserves to 513 billion barrels (8.16×1010 m3) of oil which is "technically recoverable (producible using currently available technology and industry practices)." No estimate of how much of the oil is economically recoverable was made.
The Orinoco Belt is currently divided into four exploration and production areas. These are: Boyacá (before Machete), Junín (before Zuata), Ayacucho (before Hamaca), and Carabobo (before Cerro Negro). The current exploration area is about 11,593 square kilometres (4,476 sq mi).
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