Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Natural Bitumen and Extra-Heavy Oil Country Notes

Italy

Italy has 14 natural bitumen deposits and 31 extra-heavy oil deposits. The 269 million barrels of original reserves of extra-heavy oil in Italy are found in six separate basins, similar geologically to the Durres Basin of Albania. The most important of these is the Caltanisetta Basin, mostly offshore and including the Gela field. These fields are all found in the foredeep portion of the basins, where the sediments are thickest and most structurally disturbed. The viscous nature of the oil, the offshore environment, and the limited resources create challenges to economic development of these accumulations.