ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the processes of political decolonization and concurrent 'oil-onization' of Algeria, focusing on the role of institutions and oil companies from France, the US, and Italy. It outlines how US interest in the Algerian subsoil was awoken after the first commercial oil and gas discoveries in the mid-1950s. The chapter shows how major policy and legislation changes in the French hydrocarbon sector caused the American presence in the region to increase, a result both desired and feared by French administrations that longed to acquire advanced geoscientific knowledge without losing control of Algerian territory. It explains to better understand the war in Algeria, people need to focus on the role of oil as a geopolitical device. By 1954, the year of the outbreak of the Algerian War, geophysical activity in the Sahara was expanding at an impressive rate. During the Algerian War of Independence, the Sahara was not only the setting for military engagements between the French and Algerians.
