Discovery of oil at Hassi Messaoud and gas at Hassi R'Mel
Descubrimiento del petróleo de Hassi Messaoud y del gas de Hassi R'Mel
- Date
- 1956 · confidence high
- Place
- Hassi Messaoud, Ouargla, Algeria
- Credited to
- SN REPAL (Société Nationale de Recherche de Pétrole en Algérie)
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
In 1956 oil was found at Hassi Messaoud and natural gas at Hassi R'Mel in the Algerian Sahara, two of the largest fields in Africa. They made Algeria a major hydrocarbon exporter.
The MD1 well at Hassi Messaoud found oil in June 1956 and the Hassi R'Mel gas was found in November 1956.
What it led to
- Algeria's hydrocarbon economy and the 1971 nationalisation
- pipelines to the Mediterranean (Transmed) and the Algerian gas industry
- natural gas liquefaction at Arzew