ABSTRACT
Algeria is bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, with a 1200 km of shoreline, by Morocco to the west, by Tunisia and Libya to the east, Mauritania and Western Sahara to the south-west, and Mali and Niger to the south (Fig. 15.1). Algeria has an area of 2,381,741 km2, which makes it the second largest country in Africa after Sudan. It has a population of 35.7 million (2010 estimates). The main mineral resources of Algeria are oil and natural gas, iron ore, phosphate, uranium, lead, and zinc. Proven oil reserves are estimated at 13.4 billion barrels (The World Factbook, 2010), with an average production rate of about 2.1 million barrels of oil/day (2009 estimates). Proven gas reserves are estimated at 159 TCF (Oil & Gas Journal, January 2010). It ranks tenth in the world’s natural gas reserves and 14th in oil reserves (eia, 2010). Major fields include the Cambrian Hassi Messaoud Field and the Triassic Hassi Rmel Field. The former was discovered in 1957 and the latter was discovered in 1956 and put on production in 1961.
