Morocco’s investment in hydrocarbon exploration will reach MAD 800 million by the end of 2019.
Rabat – Morocco’s national production of hydrocarbons is expected to reach 96 million cubic meters of natural gas and 4,300 tons of condensate by the end of 2019.
The Moroccan Minister of Energy, Minerals, and Environment, Aziz Rabbah, announced the figures while presenting the draft budget of his ministry to a parliamentary committee in the House of Representatives, on Monday, November 4.
“By the end of 2019, the investment in hydrocarbon exploration will be around MAD 800 million,” Rabbah said.
He added that the ministry has granted eight research licenses, including two marine licenses, in addition to a concession license for the exploitation of natural gas.
The minister pointed out that, “the volume of investments in oil and gas exploration in Morocco stood at MAD 1.7 billion.”
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According to the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Minerals, hydrocarbons explorations covered an area of about 110,000 square kilometers.
The explorations for hydrocarbons included 34 onshore licenses, 28 offshore licenses, one exploratory license and nine concession contracts for exploitation by the end of September 2020.
On Tuesday, October 29, the Moroccan National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with British oil and gas firm Sound Energy Limited related to the sale of natural gas from the Tendrara concession in Eastern Morocco.
The natural gas will be supplied to ONEE’s power plants. ONEE aims to diversify the sources of electricity production as part of the national electricity mix, making it possible to increase the integration capacity of renewable energy.
