A review of the East Algerian Sahara oil and gas province (Triassic, Ghadames and Illizi Basins)

Algeria has enjoyed renewed interest from international exploration and production companies in the last few years. This is the result of an active policy of encouraging foreign investment by the Algerian government. Many companies have taken, or are in the process of negotiating, licences in the well-known East Algerian oil province as well as in other areas. Several new discoveries have already been reported by Agip, BHP, Cepsa and Anadarko from the Ghadames basin in East Algeria, suggesting that areas with untapped potential still exist. A large amount of geological literature is relevant to these hydrocarbon-bearing basins. Most of this is in French and often in journals that are not easily accessible. The aim of this paper is to summarize the relevant literature into a short overview of the East Algerian oil province.