An anti-crisis solution? For nearly 30 years, an engineer based in the Paris region, extracted oil from the Alsatian subsoil. With a simple idea: “We earn a lot more money when we produce a barrel in France than when we produce it in Nigeria or Yemen,” explains the former Elf engineer to Latest News from Alsace.
He has set his sights on Alsace, “where the oil is the shallowest in France: 600 meters compared to 1,500-2,500 meters in the Paris region and 3,000 meters in the Aquitaine Basin. » He took over an old well dug by Elf Aquitaine in 1983, abandoned by the oil company who thought it had dried up. Bet won: the bottom of the well was just clogged.
More than 80,000 barrels produced
He operated it from 1999 until last February. In total, the well produced some 84,000 barrels (13 million liters) generating a turnover of 4.3 million euros, for an initial investment of 106,000 euros.
There are currently around sixty oil fields in France. At 1is January 2025, France’s crude oil reserves represent a little more than 13 years of exploitation at the current rate, and approximately one and a half months of national consumption according to the Statistical Data and Studies Service. Any new hydrocarbon exploration or exploitation permits will be prohibited by 2040.
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