Lake Maracaibo is one of the world's richest petroleum-producing regions. Oil was discovered in 1917 by the Dutch, and the basin now supplies about two thirds of the total output of Venezuelan petroleum. It also produces natural gas. For many years billions of cubic feet of natural gas were burned off as a waste product because there was no market for it. In the 1950s the oil companies began injecting it back into the oil-bearing formation to preserve the gas for future use.
Petroleum is transported by underwater pipelines to storage tanks on shore.
The first European to enter the lake was the Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda in 1499. The cities of Maracaibo, Cabimas, Mene Grande, and La Concepci n were all built on the lakeshore. The Learning Company, Inc.