Zelten Field

Discovered 1959, onshore Libya, the first major oil find in the country.

Overview

Esso struck oil at Zelten, later renamed Nasser, in the Sirte Basin in 1959. A pipeline to the new terminal at Marsa el Brega began exports in 1961. The discovery transformed Libya, then one of the poorest countries in the world, into a major oil exporter within a decade.