This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Orinoco oil sands is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
 |
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Orinoco Belt. () |
The Orinoco Oil Sands, also known as the Orinoco Tar Sands, are deposits of oil sands located near the Orinoco River in Venezuela. The Orinoco River starts in the Venezuelan-Brazilian border and ends in the Atlantic Ocean at the Gulf of Paria. The Orinoco Tar Sands are known to be one of the largest, if not the largest oil sand deposit in the world, along with the Athabasca Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada. It is estimated that at least 66% of the world's petroleum reserves are preserved in oil sand form, with 32% (270 km³ or 1.7 trillion barrels) of oil sand deposits in Athabascan deposits and 34% (286 km³ or 1.8 trillion barrels) in the Orinoco deposits.
Orinoco tar sands are, according to experts, more economical to extract, at $16 per barrel of oil, than Canada's Athabasca oil sands at around $20 per barrel, but with the Oil price increases since 2003 to over $145 per barrel, this cost differential has become less important.
Venezuela's non-conventional oil deposits of about 1,200 billion barrels (1.9×1011 m3), found primarily in the Orinoco oil sands, are estimated to approximately equal the world's reserves of conventional oil. An estimated 267 billion barrels (4.24×1010 m3) were producible at 2006 prices and technology.1 In addition to the Orinoco tar sands, some deposits are also found in the Maracaibo Basin and Guanoco Lake, near the Caribbean coast.2
References
- ^ Pierre-René Bauquis (2006-02-16). "What the future for extra heavy oil and bitumen: the Orinoco case". World Energy Council. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
- ^ (2004). "Survey of energy resources" (PDF). World Energy Council. Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
 |
This article about a location in Venezuela is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 This article about an oil field is a stub. You can help by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 5 September 2008, at 07:53.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Orinoco oil sands".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.