Israel Returns the Alma Oil Field

On this day, Israel returned the Alma oil fields on the Gulf of Suez to Egypt. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency records that the ceremony was held at A-Tur in southern Sinai, and that the Israeli flag was lowered and replaced by an Egyptian flag. The fields were the last Sinai oil fields still in Israeli hands.

The same report says the wells had supplied Israel with two million tons of crude oil a year, about a quarter of its consumption. Under an agreement with Egypt, Israel was to keep receiving two million tons a year, paying $23.50 a barrel for the first year.