On November 25, 1979, Israel surrendered the Alma oil field, part of the Sinai Peninsula, to Egypt, as negotiated in the Camp David Accords. In its original terrain, the field was Israel’s largest single energy source.In 1967, after the Six-Day War, Israel took control of the Sinai Peninsula and began investigating the oil potential in the area. The Alma oil field was discovered that year and Israel soon began developing it, creating the possibility for the country to become entirely energy-independent by 1990. This meant that Israel would not need to rely on importing resources to produce its energy - it could be sufficient by itself. At the height of its use, half of the Israeli population relied on the field; wells produced up to 40,000 barrels of crude oil per day.Per the terms of the Camp David Accords, Israel had to withdraw from territory previously belonging to Egypt. This included the Sinai Peninsula and the Alma oil field. Over the course of three years, beginning in 1979, the Israelis withdrew, leaving behind an estimated $100 billion of untapped oil reserves. A brief ceremony in El Tor, a coastal Sinai town, took place on this day in 1979 to mark the official transfer of the region’s and oil field’s administration to Egypt. The Israeli flag was symbolically swapped for the Egyptian flag.After the transfer, Egypt cut daily production to about 20,000 barrels over concerns of overexploitation. Israel was forced to begin importing large volumes of oil from elsewhere, including Mexico and Europe. Today, Israel still relies on oil, gas, and coal, much of which is imported, for almost all of its energy; although, renewables are quickly becoming more common. Additionally, the discovery of natural gas reserves in the Mediterranean has allowed Israel to become more energy independent.