Maracaibo

Commentary

While changes to the Colombian regulatory regime have made the licencing process easier, overall it remains laborious; Venezuela is showing signs of hope, with the OFAC sanctions being lifted. The outlook for the basin as a whole continues to lift.

Updated

June 18, 2024

Location

Description

The MCB has produced in excess of 30bn bbl, amking it one of the more sizeable global basins. Organic rich shales of the Upper Cretaceous La Luna Formation are the main petroleum source rock, and La Luna shales have reached adequate thermal maturity for both oil and gas generation in the majority of the basin. There has been two phases of petroleum generation and expulsion, and there remains significant prospectivity shales sequences and low-permeability sandstones.

Summary

The Basin has been extensively explored, although new discoveries continue to be made following the application of new exploration technologies.