A Gusher at Lake Maracaibo Turns Venezuela into an Oil Nation

Indigenous peoples across Venezuela had long made use of naturally occurring surface petroleum seeps before European colonizers arrived in the early sixteenth century. Known locally as mene, the thick mineral substance served practical purposes, including canoe caulking, illumination, and medicinal treatments. Spanish arrivals soon adopted the local bitumen to caulk their own ships and treat equipment. One of the earliest documented transoceanic transfers occurred in 1539, when a single barrel of crude petroleum was shipped to Spain in an effort to alleviate the gout of Emperor Charles V. Yet despite centuries of awareness, modern mechanical exploitation remained largely absent until the early twentieth century.

A shift toward industrial extraction gained momentum under President Juan Vicente Gómez, who took power in 1908. Gómez granted sweeping concessions to political associates, who subsequently transferred these rights to foreign enterprises equipped to undertake large-scale drilling. The General Asphalt Company and its subsidiary, the Caribbean Petroleum Company, hired the American geologist Ralph Arnold, who led some 52 geologists in surveying the country. This effort proved fruitful in 1914 with the completion of the Zumaque-I well in the Mene Grande field, opening the country's first major commercial oil reserve in the Maracaibo Basin. Subsequent exploration soon revealed additional petroleum deposits, including the extensive Bolivar Coastal Field.