The fact that Venezuela has sent 43,000 tons of asphalt to the United States in one year, is an indication of the future wealth to be derived from the systematic exploitation of asphaltum there.
At the present writing there is but one company producing asphalt,—The New York and Bermúdez Company, a subsidiary of the General Asphalt Trust. This company is working a pitch lake at a point near Guanoco, in the state of Sucre, adjacent to the Gulf of Paria, in the extreme northeastern part of Venezuela. The concession held by this company is known as the Hamilton Concession,—obtained in 1886 for a duration of 99 years, and including about 960 hectares. The grade of asphalt is excellent, and in many respects better than the Trinidad variety, as it tests at a grade of 98% asphalt and 2% water and waste. The pitch lake is only 7 miles from the Rio San Juan and the company is particularly fortunate because the deep water in the river permits ocean steamers to come alongside the company's docks. A railroad, controlled by the New York and Bermúdez Company, is in operation between the lake and the docks, and over this all asphalt produced in this region is transported. The transportation situation here may be contrasted with that in the Maracaibo district in western Venezuela, where transportation conditions are none too good.
The South American Asphalt company of Philadelphia has obtained an asphalt concession in the vicinity of Mene Grande, near the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo, but as yet no results have been obtained.
The following table shows the capital of the New York and Bermúdez Company, and the amount of asphalt exploited and exported for the last three years:
| 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | Totals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exploited | 54,071 | 46,453 | 45,936 | 146,460 |
| Exported | 47,124 | 43,347 | 42,459 | 132,930 |
Official Trade Statistics of Finance Department for 1918-1919 show that during budget year, Venezuela exported more than Bs. 1,000,000 ($200,000 American gold) worth of asphalt.
The law of June 26, 1920, referred to in the last part of section one of this report, applies likewise to asphalt. The photographs attached show several phases of the petroleum industry in Venezuela and the accompanying map shows in a general way the petroleum and asphalt concessions and the areas of production.
William H. Johnson.