Venezuela’s Giant Lake of Endless Oil Is a Filthy, Lawless Mess
Lake Maracaibo, a 5,097 square mile body of water, is a graveyard for everything from abandoned pipeline to tires. Photographer: Pietro Pitts/Bloomberg
From the moment the diver in red nylon coveralls and blue Chuck Taylor sneakers resurfaces after replacing rusted pipeline on the bed of South America’s largest lake, it’s a race against time. Coated head to toe in dark-black oil, he clambers aboard the service boat, rips off his makeshift uniform and scrambles to hose himself down with a special compound to wash away the contaminants.
For nearly a century, the petroleum deposits beneath giant Lake Maracaibo served as a cash cow for successive Venezuelan governments. In return, especially in the years since the industry was brought fully under state control by former President Hugo Chavez, it has received little back but neglect.