An estimate of recoverable heavy oil resources of the Orinoco Oil Belt, Venezuela

Christopher J. Schenk; Troy A. Cook; Ronald R. Charpentier; Richard M. Pollastro; Timothy R. Klett; Marilyn E. Tennyson; Mark A. Kirschbaum; Michael E. Brownfield; Janet K. Pitman

doi:10.3133/fs20093028

An estimate of recoverable heavy oil resources of the Orinoco Oil Belt, Venezuela

Fact Sheet 2009-3028

By: Christopher J. Schenk, Troy A. Cook, Ronald R. Charpentier, Richard M. Pollastro, Timothy R. Klett, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Mark A. Kirschbaum, Michael E. Brownfield, and Janet K. Pitman

https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20093028

Metrics

10

Crossref references

Web analytics dashboard Metrics definitions

Links

More information: USGS Index Page (html)
Document: Report (917 kB pdf)
Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core

Abstract

The Orinoco Oil Belt Assessment Unit of the La Luna-Quercual Total Petroleum System encompasses approximately 50,000 km2 of the East Venezuela Basin Province that is underlain by more than 1 trillion barrels of heavy oil-in-place. As part of a program directed at estimating the technically recoverable oil and gas resources of priority petroleum basins worldwide, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the recoverable oil resources of the Orinoco Oil Belt Assessment Unit. This estimate relied mainly on published geologic and engineering data for reservoirs (net oil-saturated sandstone thickness and extent), petrophysical properties (porosity, water saturation, and formation volume factors), recovery factors determined by pilot projects, and estimates of volumes of oil-in-place. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean volume of 513 billion barrels of technically recoverable heavy oil in the Orinoco Oil Belt Assessment Unit of the East Venezuela Basin Province; the range is 380 to 652 billion barrels. The Orinoco Oil Belt Assessment Unit thus contains one of the largest recoverable oil accumulations in the world.

Suggested Citation

Schenk, C.J., Cook, T.A., Charpentier, R., Pollastro, R.M., Klett, T., Tennyson, M., Kirschbaum, M.A., Brownfield, M.E., Pitman, J.K., 2009, An estimate of recoverable heavy oil resources of the Orinoco Oil Belt, Venezuela: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2009-3028, 4 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20093028.

ISSN: 2327-6932 (online)

ISSN: 2327-6916 (print)

Study Area

Additional publication details
Publication type	Report
Publication Subtype	USGS Numbered Series
Title	An estimate of recoverable heavy oil resources of the Orinoco Oil Belt, Venezuela
Series title	Fact Sheet
Series number	2009-3028
DOI	10.3133/fs20093028
Year Published	2009
Language	English
Publisher	U.S. Geological Survey
Contributing office(s)	Central Energy Resources Science Center
Description	4 p.
Online Only (Y/N)	N
Additional Online Files (Y/N)	N