Geology and geochemistry of crude oils, Bolivar Coastal Fields, Venezuela
The Bolivar Coastal Fields (BCF) are located on the eastern margin of Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. They form the largest oil field outside of the Middle East and contain oil which is mostly heavy with a gravity less than 22/sup 0/ API. Lake Maracaibo is now in an intermontane basin enclosed on three sides by the Andes Mountains. The area has a complex history and tectonic movement continues today. In the Cretaceous, the area was part of the platform of a large geosyncline, but by the Eocene it was near a coast where a series of large sandy deltas was deposited, with terrestrial sediments on the south and thick marine shales on the north. At this time, conditions for oil generation in the shales and migration to the sands were established, but the subsequent Oligocene faulting, uplift, and erosion may have allowed meteoric water to penetrate into reservoirs. During the Miocene and Pliocene, the basin was tilted first west and then south, and filled with continental sediments from the rising Andes. Tilting is still continuing and oil is moving up along the Oligocene unconformity, forming surface seeps.
- OSTI ID:
- 6987885
- Journal Information:
- Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States), Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Vol. 67:2; ISSN AAPGB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
ANDES
CENOZOIC ERA
CHEMISTRY
COASTAL REGIONS
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ENERGY SOURCES
EROSION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGY
LAKES
LATIN AMERICA
MESOZOIC ERA
MINERAL RESOURCES
MOUNTAINS
OIL FIELDS
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
RESOURCES
SEDIMENTS
SOUTH AMERICA
SURFACE WATERS
TECTONICS
TERTIARY PERIOD
VENEZUELA
VISCOSITY