The Agua Caliente Oilfield and the Boiling River of the Peruvian Amazon

摘要

The presence of petroleum in Peru has been known for several centuries from the numerous oil seeps and outcrops of heavy black asphalt located in the Talara coastal region. Ages before the Spanish presence, the natives prepared the pitch for mummifying their dead, for waterproofing boats and as fuel for light. The earliest Spanish explorers used the pitch from these seeps to caulk their boats and tar their ropes. As Spanish shipping increased, the importance of the tar pits increased and they were soon systematically exploited, becoming the site of South America's oldest petroleum production. Finally, in 1869, the La Brea-Parinas oilfield was discovered by cable-tool drilling, making it one of the first oil production fields in the world.