Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – British Sound Energy has received Moroccan ministerial approval for its new eight-year petroleum agreement to drill for oil in Morocco’s eastern Tendrara region.
Sound Energy announced the news today, October 16.
The British company originally signed the new petroleum agreement, named “Greater Tendrara Petroleum Agreement,” with the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM), Morocco’s regulator for petroleum operations, on August 31. The agreement pended ministerial approval to go into effect.
Commenting on the Moroccan finance and energy ministries’ approval, James Parsons, Sound Energy’s CEO said, “The Greater Tendrara petroleum agreement has now become effective – securing Sound Energy’s rights to this potentially transformational acreage up to 2026.”
“We look forward to commencement of our exploration drilling programme in the near future,” he added.
Read also: Sound Energy Signs New 8-Year Petroleum Agreement with Morocco
The agreement united the areas covered by the company’s Tendrara petroleum agreement in April 2013, the Matarka reconnaissance licence granted in July 2017, and the Anoual petroleum agreement, said the British company in statement published August 31.
Following the petroleum agreement’s implementation, Sound Energy will hold a 47.5 percent share in the Greater Tendrara licensed area. The Texas-based Schlumberger company, a Sound Energy partner, holds 27.5 percent and ONHYM holds 25 percent.
The project covers an area of approximately 14,500 square kilometers extending across eastern Morocco and “surrounding the development concession application area relating to the Tendrara gas discovery.”
In September, Morocco’s Ministry of Energy gave Sound Energy a production concession for the company’s Tendrara natural gas discovery in eastern Morocco.
Read also: Morocco Grants Production Concession to Sound Energy for Gas Discovery
The new agreement will be divided into 3 phases: an initial 4-year phase to dig 2 exploration wells, an “optional first complementary” 2-year phase to dig one exploration well, and an “optional second complementary” 2-year phase to dig another exploration well. All exploration wells will comply with the minimum Triassic objective.
In July 2018, Sound Energy said it discovered large oil deposits in Anoual after exploring in the area.
In September 2017, the Advisory & Finance Group Investment Bank (AFG) gave Sound Energy a funding offer worth $60-100 million for its Tendrara gas export pipeline project.
AFG is a Moroccan oil and gas investment fund owned by Mohamed Benslimane, who is married to Princess Lalla Zineb. AFG acts as a manager for Sound Energy in the country.
In July 2017, the British company signed two contracts with ONHYM, acquiring two new licenses for the two areas near Tendrara and the Algerian border: Anoual and Matarka.
