I thought Rommel was in Africa in order to seal off the
British Empah via the Suez Canal. IIRC the discovery of
oil in North Africa was a postwar event.
Yes, but oil also played a major part in why the British were in North Africa in the first place.
Battlefield North Africa: Rommel's Rise And Fall
"The battle for North Africa was a struggle for control of the Suez Canal and access to oil from the Middle East and raw materials from Asia. Oil in particular had become a critical strategic commodity due to the increased mechanization of modern armies. Britain, which was the first major nation to field a completely mechanized army, was particularly dependent on the Middle Eastern oil. The Suez Canal also provided Britain with a valuable link to her overseas dominions -- part of a lifeline that ran through the Mediterranean Sea. Thus, the North African campaign and the naval campaign for the Mediterranean were extensions of each other in a very real sense."