Natural resources
Algeria’s reserves of crude oil and natural gas provide the country with inexpensive sources of energy. Oil and gas products are also Algeria’s most valuable exports. After oil was discovered in the eastern Sahara in 1956, French-owned companies built a network of wells, refineries, and pipelines in Algeria. Although many French engineers left after independence in 1962, the French and Algerian governments continued to cooperate in oil exploration and drilling. In 1971 the FLN government nationalized the country’s oil industry. Income from the sale of energy products abroad has since helped Algeria to develop other sectors of the economy. Algeria also has extensive reserves of iron ore, the raw material for finished iron and steel products. In addition, companies extract phosphates from mines near Algeria’s border with Tunisia. The phosphates are then made into agricultural fertilizer. Other important mineral resources include lead, zinc, mercury, salt, and uranium. Reserves of coal exist near the northern Saharan city of Bechar.