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Denver- Europa Oil & Gas announced its entrance into Morocco’s lucrative oil industry with a new drill site located in the Agadir basin.
The British-owned company previously operated solely within the UK and Ireland, however it recently announced it would begin operations in Morocco as part of the Inezgane Permit.
Morocco awarded the company with the permit, with Europa holding 75% ownership over interests in the region, while Morocco’s National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM) holds ownership of the remaining 25%. Europa announced its exploration operations will focus on five main prospective areas within the basin, and the area could hold more than two billion barrels worth of oil.
The planned drilling area lies within the same geologic formation as similar areas in West Africa where oil has already been discovered. Europa CEO Simon Oddie stated the company’s new operations “fits comfortably into the company’s strategy of creating a balanced portfolio,” and Europa is seeking funding to assist with financing its new operations.
According to the Europa website, only ten offshore drills are currently in operation in Moroccan waters, and the company considers the region “relatively unexplored.” Additionally, an exploratory well drilled by another company off the coast of Southern Morocco has already yielded “gas condensates.”
Europa plans on finding a collaboration partner between 2021 and 2022 to begin its initial drilling phase. The company was given licensing rights over the area for the next 25 years. On the part of ONHYM, the Moroccan entity will explore 25% of the proposed area, and will also pay its own development and production expenses. After the first ten years, ONHYM will also pay a 30% corporate tax to the Moroccan government, potentially bringing in millions in revenue for the North African country.
