Issaouane Erg with foreign assistance, including from Korea and Spain (Repsol signed an agreement to invest and explore in 1990). The oilfield has been in production since late 1998. Issaouane Erg The Issaouane Erg (also called Issaouane-N-Irrararene) is an approximately 38,000 km erg (sand sea) in Algeria's portion of the Sahara desert, located at . The Issaouane Erg is located near the Ahaggar Mountains. It is part of a major dune field that extends from Issaouane Erg in the north to the Sudanese Erg in the south, flanked by the Libyan erg of Murzuq. In the north, the Issaouane Erg ends at
Grand Erg Oriental northern oasis on a Trans-Saharan trade route. South of Wargla on this road, lies Hassi Messaoud ["blessed well"], which is located within the "Grand Erg". Until recently Hassi Messaoud was a small Saharan village, but has grown substantially on account of the local discovery of oil in 1956. An oil refinery has since been built, and the city (current population estimated at 60,000) is now served by an international airport. A desert road going east from Hassi Messaoud continues through the "Grand Erg", passing by a well named "Bordj Sif Fatima" ["Fatima's River Tower" perhaps], on its way to the