Zarzaitine (also written Zarzaïtine) is an industrial village in the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

In Amenas In Amenas (, ''‘In ’Amanās'') is a town and commune in eastern Algeria, bordering with Libya. The town is located west of the border. There is no border crossing in the area. The municipality had 7,385 inhabitants in 2008, up from 5.302 in ...

, in In Amenas District,

Illizi Province Illizi ( ar, ولاية اليزي) is a large province (''wilaya'') in the south-eastern corner of Algeria named after its eponymous seat. It borders Ouargla Province to the north, Tunisia to the extreme northeast, Libya to the east, Djanet Pr ...

, eastern

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. It is a notable mining area, with significant deposits of sulphur and crude oil in particular.

Geography

Zarzaitine is a

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

town between Algeria and

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

, located just to the northeast of In Aménas. The Trapsa Oil Pipeline connects it to Edjeleh, which is located about to the south. In Aménas Airport is in the vicinity, also known as Zarzaitine Airport. Geologically this area is known as the Zarzaitine Formation, consisting mainly of red-brown sandstone, and dinosaur bones dated to the

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...

have been unearthed here. The Zarzantine (Triassic) formation is found in the Marzuq Basin. The formation is reported to be thick which reduces to thickness towards the south because erosive action. Zarzaitine oil field is located in the south-eastern

Illizi Illizi ( ar, إيليزي) is a town and commune, coextensive with Illizi District, situated in the south-eastern part of Algeria, and capital of Illizi Province. According to the 2008 census it is the largest commune by population in the provin ...

basin.

History

The name Zarzaitine was given to this formation by

Albert-Félix de Lapparent Albert-Félix de Lapparent (1905–1975) was a French palaeontologist. He was also a Sulpician priest. He undertook a number of fossil-hunting explorations in the Sahara desert. He contributed greatly to our knowledge of dinosaurs and other prehisto ...

and Maurice Lelubre, in 1948. Oil and gas production took off dramatically in the 1960s, becoming CREP's most productive site. and in 1962 alone 12 wells were drilled at Zarzaitine. In 1961, Zarzaitine was considered to be the largest oil field of the

eastern Sahara Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

, with primary reserves of 80 million tons. In the 21st century it is still an important oil site in Algeria; in 2002, Chinese company

Sinopec China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (中国石油化工股份有限公司) or Sinopec (), is a Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Beijing. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai. Sinopec Limited's parent, Sinopec ...

signed a $525 million contract with the national Algerian oil company Sonatrach to develop the Zarzaitine oil field. It is estimated that Algeria produces two million tons of crude from this oil field annually.

References

Neighbouring towns and cities

{{Illizi Province Populated places in Illizi Province In Amenas District Natural gas fields in Algeria Energy in Algeria