Sustainably high oil prices have lured small oil explorers back to Alsace, the cradle of the French oil exploration industry that gave birth to corporate giants such as Schlumberger.
-
-
Bottled samples of oil by-products from France's Alsace region are on display at the French Oil Museum in Merkwiller-Pechelbronn. Vincent Kessler / Reuters -
A working oil pump in Wintzenbach. Alsace, the cradle of the French oil exploration industry in the mid-18th century, is witnessing a tentative return of small oil explorers in the eastern region on the German border. Vincent Kessler / Reuters -
An employee at the Oelweg oil company, works near oil tanks at the site of an oil well in Oberlauterbach. Vincent Kessler / Reuters -
A sign on a fence, which reads Oil Museum next to the church", shows the direction for the French Oil Museum in Merkwiller-Pechelbronn. Vincent Kessler / Reuters -
An employee holds a drill bit at the oil drilling site of the Millenium Geo-Venture company in Soufflenheim. Vincent Kessler / Reuters -
A working oil pump is seen through fencing in Niederlauterbach. Vincent Kessler / Reuters -
A commemorative sign is seen at the location of the world’s first ever prospective oil drilling site, built in 1813, in a forest near Merkwiller-Pechelbronn. Vincent Kessler / Reuters -
Cutting samples, ordered in the depth of their extraction and labelled in metres on display at the oil drilling site of the Millenium Geo-Venture company in Soufflenheim. Vincent Kessler / Reuters -
A rusted barrel is seen in a pond covered with leaked oil, near an abandoned paraffin wax factory, in a forest in Merkwiller-Pechelbronn. Vincent Kessler / Reuters -
A label is seen on a rusted oil pump, part of the French Oil Museum collection, near the museum in Merkwiller-Pechelbronn. Vincent Kessler / Reuters -
An abandoned paraffin wax factory in a forest in Merkwiller-Pechelbronn. Vincent Kessler / Reuters -
Abandoned oil pumps, part of the French Oil Museum collection, are seen near a rusted truck in a storage area of the museum in Merkwiller-Pechelbronn. Vincent Kessler / Reuters -
Oil pumps are seen in Niederlauterbach. Vincent Kessler / Reuters -
An employee at the Oelweg oil company takes a sample of oil from an oil well in Oberlauterbach. Vincent Kessler / Reuters
In pictures: Oil exploration returns to France’s Alsace region
Most popular today
