El Lago de Maracaibo.

hi steemians.

Lake Maracaibo, Spanish Lago de Maracaibo, large inlet of the Caribbean Sea, lying in the Maracaibo Basin of northwestern Venezuela. Some sources consider the water body to be the largest natural lake in South America, covering an area of about 5,130 square miles (13,280 square km), extending southward for 130 miles (210 km) from the Gulf of Venezuela and reaching a width of 75 miles (121 km). Other sources note, however, that Lake Maracaibo is more properly termed an inlet because much of the water it receives is brought in by the tide from the Atlantic Ocean. See Researcher’s Note: Lake Titicaca versus Lake Maracaibo.

Lake Maracaibo: General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge
General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge over Lake Maracaibo, northwestern Venezuela.
© Wilfredo Rodríguez

Lake Maracaibo is one of the world’s richest and most centrally located petroleum-producing regions. The first productive well was drilled in 1917, and the productive area has come to include a 65-mile (105-km) strip along the eastern shore, extending 20 miles (32 km) out into the lake. Thousands of derricks protrude from the water and many more line the shore, while underwater pipelines transport the petroleum to storage tanks on the land. The lake’s basin supplies about two-thirds of the total Venezuelan petroleum output. Most of the industry was developed by foreign (chiefly American, British, and Dutch) investment, with very few locally owned wells, but in 1975 the petroleum industry was nationalized. Natural gas is also obtained.

WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica