Zumaque I

Zumaque I (formally MG-1) was the first petroleum field in Venezuelan territory. It is located near the town of Mene Grande, in the Baralt Municipality of Zulia and a few kilometers from the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo. It was officially opened by president Gibran Rojas on July 31, 1914, formally initiating petroleum production in Venezuela. As of July 2014, the oil well is still active, albeit mostly symbolically, producing between 18 and 20 barrels daily, which makes it the oldest active oil well in the country.[1][2][3] A plaque commemorating the discovery of the field and the nationalization of the oil industry on January 1, 1976 was placed at the site.

Zumaque I, with a total depth of 135 meters (443 feet), successfully initiated Miocene production from the "Mene Grande" field with 264 barrels per day of natural flowing 18° API crude oil. Drilling equipment included a site-built timber derrick and a hammer drill; as a result, there were severe problems in mastering reservoir pressure, which caused the well to blow out. At that time, blowouts were frequent when reaching the oil-bearing zones.

Etymology

The field was developed on the lands of the Zumaque hacienda; hence its common name. However, for operational purposes it was named MG-1, since it was the well that initiated the use of the Mene Grande field.

History

The presence of large reserves of petroleum in the region attracted the attention of geologists and served as the base for the study of the zone between San Timoteo and Río Paují, all of which was included inside the immense reserve of petroleum (around 270,000 km²) obtained in 1909 by John Alen Tregelles, a representative of the English business "The Venezuela Development Company", during the government of general Juan Vicente Gómez.

The lawyer Rafael Max Valladares acquired the plot in 1912 and renamed it to the "Caribbean Petroleum Company", a business established in New York in 1911 as a subsidiary of the "General Asphalt Company" and later, absorbed by Royal Dutch Shell. Exploration started in September 1912, under the supervision of Ralph Arnold and a team of geologists. In his final report, he selected the regions of extractions, 24 of which were located in the area of San Timoteo, Venezuela, and they recommend the immediate perforation of an oil field in the Zumaque area, near the town of Mene Grande. The work teams, in order to begin drilling, were directed from the port of Maracaibo in the ships Fride, Gazela, and Electra.[4]

The well was marked by Caribbean with the initials MG-1, and was later known as “El Zumaque 1” because a bush known by the indigenous word 'zumaque' grew in the area.

In April 1914, the drilling of the well was then arranged in an anticline of "La Estrella" hill, named after the so-called star machine that was used for drilling. This entire region consisted of jungle plants area, which had to be cleared for the installation of the well. Many field workers, without any knowledge in oil matters, worked in high temperatures, without drinking water, without medical services and only with the tools of a farmer, to start the oil exploitation.