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The First World War highlighted the importance of oil. France was an importer supplied by the large foreign oil companies. In the early 1920s, intent on achieving independence in the energy sector, French authorities encouraged the establishment of a national oil industry. The Compagnie française des pétroles was founded in 1924 but France had little sway over Iraq, its main source of crude. The apex of its national oil policy was reached following the discovery of major reserves in Algeria in 1956. France finally held important amounts of crude ( “oil payable in francs” ) and the means to put into effect a national oil policy. Algeria’s independence and the loosening of ties between the two countries in the oil sphere made the prospect of a national oil policy more remote. This article argues that the closure of the Algerian era led to the phasing out of France’s national oil policy.