摘要
Based on the up to date reserve data of oil and gas fields,this paper documents the oil and gas distribution features in terms of basin type.It also characterizes the areal and stratigraphic distribution of discovered oil and gas reserves. In South America, the foreland basin is the basin type with the richest oil and gas resources, followed by the passive margin basin. The foreland basins are located along the Andes Mountains. The ones in the northern and southern sectors are Cenozoic foreland basins and those in the middle sector Paleozoic foreland basins. The foreland basins which evolved from a proceeding passive margin basin development stage are the most prolific oil and gas-bearing basins. They are represented by the East Venezuela and Maracaibo Basins.