On 7 January 1958 the stopcocks opened at Hassi-Messaoud deep in the sands of the Algerian Sahara, and its first oil flowed towards France. Already in 1945 French oil companies had begun prospecting in the Sahara, and shortly after the beginning of the Algerian war a major strike was made at Edjelé on the Libyan frontier. With the opening up of the Hassi-Messaoud field, French oilmen predicted euphorically that they had at their fingertips resources similar to those of the Middle East. From 5 million tons in the first year, 1958, it was reckoned production would reach 14 million in 1962, and that it would suffice to satisfy all France's oil requirements by 1980. With the menace that Suez presented to Middle East oil supplies, here was a glowing prospect of securing the nation's need for the future, as well as solving her acute balance of payments problem. Quite quietly, France now found herself with a new motive for winning the Algerian war that went far beyond any consideration for the one million pieds noirs.

XREF: Connects to Suez crisis context and France's balance of payments struggles in the postwar era.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 753