Venezuela has four primary oil basins, Lake Maracaibo, the Eastern Venezuelan Basin, the Gulf of Paria area, and the Barinas-Apure Basin. At the end of 1994 Venezuela had 64 billion barrels of proven reserves, making Venezuela the largest reserve outside the middle East. Oil and Gas Journal. Dec. 25, 1995. Venezuela announced a 20 year deal with Chevron to procuce in the Boscan heavy oil field.
Heavy oil is used in the production of asphalt.
Oil and Gas Journal. Pdvsa plans to upgrade its Amuay refinery over the next 10 years. The refinery is already one of the three largest in the world, producing up to 1.246 million barrels per day. Pdvsa wants to expand its leading refinery even more, up to 200,000 bpd more by 2000. Pdvsa also tofally or partly owns refineries in the US and Europe that produce another 1.626 million bpd.