Orinoco Belt

E74319
oil-producing region petroleum geological formation

The Orinoco Belt is a vast oil-rich region in eastern Venezuela known for containing one of the world’s largest extra-heavy crude oil reserves.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (3)

Surface form Occurrences
Eastern Venezuela Basin 1
Faja Petrolífera del Orinoco 1
eastern Venezuela 1

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf oil-producing region ⓘ
petroleum geological formation ⓘ
abbreviation FPO ⓘ
administrativeRegion Bolívar State ⓘ
surface form: state of Bolívar

state of Guárico ⓘ
state of Monagas ⓘ
states of Anzoátegui ⓘ
area approximately 55,000 square kilometers ⓘ
averageAPIGravity between 8 and 10 degrees API ⓘ
basin Orinoco Belt self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form: Eastern Venezuela Basin
borderedBy Caribbean coastal region to the north ⓘ
Orinoco River to the south ⓘ
continent South America ⓘ
country Venezuela ⓘ
developedBy Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. ⓘ
developmentChallenges high production and upgrading costs ⓘ
need for specialized extraction technologies ⓘ
environmentalConcerns deforestation risk ⓘ
greenhouse gas emissions from upgrading ⓘ
water use and contamination risks ⓘ
estimatedOilInPlace over 1 trillion barrels ⓘ
fullName Orinoco Belt self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form: Faja Petrolífera del Orinoco
geologicalAge mainly Miocene formations ⓘ
globalRanking among the largest known accumulations of extra-heavy oil in the world ⓘ
hasNaturalResource bitumen ⓘ
extra-heavy crude oil ⓘ
knownFor one of the world’s largest extra-heavy crude oil reserves ⓘ
languageOfName Spanish ⓘ
length approximately 600 kilometers ⓘ
locatedIn Orinoco Basin ⓘ
surface form: Orinoco River basin

Bolívar State ⓘ
surface form: eastern Venezuela
majorEconomicActivity oil extraction ⓘ
upgrading of extra-heavy crude ⓘ
oilType bitumen-like crude ⓘ
extra-heavy oil ⓘ
overlies Guiana Shield ⓘ
surface form: Guayana Shield basement rocks
partOf Venezuela ⓘ
surface form: Venezuelan oil reserves
recoverableReservesEstimate hundreds of billions of barrels ⓘ
requires dilution with lighter hydrocarbons for transport ⓘ
upgrading to synthetic crude ⓘ
strategicImportance key component of Venezuela’s oil production plans ⓘ
significant share of global heavy oil resources ⓘ
subdivision Ayacucho ⓘ
Boyacá Department ⓘ
surface form: Boyacá

Carabobo ⓘ
Junín ⓘ
viscosity very high viscosity crude ⓘ
width approximately 70 kilometers to 90 kilometers ⓘ

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Orinoco Belt → basin → Orinoco Belt self-linksurface differs ⓘ
this entity surface form: Eastern Venezuela Basin
Orinoco River → flowsThrough → Orinoco Belt ⓘ
Orinoco Belt → fullName → Orinoco Belt self-linksurface differs ⓘ
this entity surface form: Faja Petrolífera del Orinoco
Orinoco Delta → locatedIn → Orinoco Belt ⓘ
this entity surface form: eastern Venezuela
Orinoco Basin → partiallyLocatedIn → Orinoco Belt ⓘ