Barroso II blowout and Venezuelan oil
Reventón del Barroso II y el petróleo de Venezuela
- Date
- 14 de diciembre de 1922 · confidence high
- Place
- Cabimas, Zulia, Venezuela
- Credited to
- Royal Dutch Shell (Venezuelan Oil Concessions)
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
The Barroso 2 well at La Rosa on Lake Maracaibo gushed uncontrolled for nine days at about 100,000 barrels a day. It made Venezuela a major oil exporter and attracted American companies.
Venezuela's first commercial well was Zumaque I (Mene Grande, 1914), but the Barroso II blowout revealed the country's potential.
What it led to
- the Lake Maracaibo oil boom
- Venezuela as the world's second producer in the 1920s and 1930s
- fiscal dependence on oil and the 'petrostate'