Like coal and oil, bitumen occurs naturally and is obtained from the world's largest deposit in the Orinoco Belt in Venezuela.
[3] If a spill occurs during shipping over water, the Orimulsion mixture de-emulsifies, causing the bitumen to separate and no longer remain in suspension.
Orimulsion is classified as a non-Newtonian fluid, and if its temperature drops below 30 °C, it undergoes a process referred to as 'setting'[further explanation needed].
Orimulsion is currently used as a commercial boiler fuel in power plants worldwide, including countries such as Japan, Italy[4] and China.
[dubious – discuss] Consequently, the Venezuelan government has been attempting to gradually phase out the Orimulsion program, except for its sales to China.