The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[OakesCS]

bit of a correction to my earlier post:

In 1914, methane was detected in a water well at Sidi el Masri at a depth of 150 m [480 ft]; gas was also noticed subsequently in other water wells.

The Italians continued their scientific endeavors in Libya after World War I, ...working under the leadership of Ardito Desio...demonstrate[d] that a working petroleum system existed in Libya. In 1938 Desio found enough "blackish drops of crude oil" to fill a bottle in a water well drilled near Tripoli. This led to a 2-year reconnaissance campaign...in the area then known as Tripolitania and the drilling of a dry hole.

Desio identified the Sirt basin as being the most favorable area for hydrocarbon accumulations.

By the summer of 1940, the war ...put a stop to petroleum exploration...

from "A Brief History of Libya's Oil and Gas Industries"