Rabat – The Ministry of Energy and Mining announced on Thursday, August 19, that a national roadmap for natural gas development has been established, covering the period of 2021-2030.
According to the Department of Energy and Mines, the roadmap lays the groundwork for development of natural gas for industrial needs in the beginning, followed by domestic needs, as well as continued development of natural gas to meet the needs of electricity generation in the future.
The first step of this roadmap would be to establish a regulatory framework for the natural gas sector through the enactment of the draft law 94.17 pertaining to the downstream sector of natural gas, increasing the authority of the National Electricity Regulatory Authority to regulate the natural gas sector, appointing a manager for the Moroccan Natural Gas Transmission System, or regulating free imports of natural gas transportation, storage and distribution.
Second, consideration should be made of the current and past demand of the fuel, along with the potential growth of future demand caused by the shift from traditional fuels to this new and more efficient alternative.
The Gas To Industry demand will play a key role in the development of the Moroccan natural gas market, along with Gas To Power, which will eventually replace coal, according to the Department.
Finally, the third stage would be to assess potential solutions for supplying natural gas and liquified natural gas (LNG), utilizing pipelines, floating storage and regasification units, and onshore terminals or multidirectional flows. The third stage would further deploy a new transport network to connect all components of the gas plan and develop its own capacity to receive and store natural gas and LNG for security of supply reasons.
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Morocco holds 0.05 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven gas reserves as of 2017, ranking 94th in the world and accounting for about 0.0007% of the world’s total natural gas reserves of 6,923 Tcf.
Morocco has proven reserves equivalent to 1.2 times its annual consumption. This means it has about 1 years of gas left (at current consumption levels and excluding unproven reserves).
Morocco consumes 43,332 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas per year as of the year 2017. The country ranks 88th in the world for natural gas consumption, accounting for about 0.0% of the world’s total consumption of 132,290,211 MMcf.
Morocco consumes 1,218 cubic feet of natural gas per capita every year (based on the 2017 population of 35,581,255 people), or 3 cubic feet per capita per day.
In terms of production, Morocco produces 4,025.91 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas per year (as of 2015) ranking 83rd in the world. While imports make up 93% of its natural gas consumption (39,800 MMcf in 2015).
The roadmap consists of a number of strategic objectives, such as the creation of a regulated natural gas market, the creation of a gas infrastructure structure, the access to competitive energy for industrialists and consumers, or boosting the competitiveness of Moroccan exporting companies.
Due to its clean nature, natural gas has great potential in assisting Morocco in its energy transition, improving industry competitiveness, decarbonizing the economy, or supporting renewable energy.
Moreover, an analysis of the current situation, both at the national and international levels of natural gas supply and demand, shows that the market is generally driven by industrial and power generation demand.
The total demand for natural gas in Morocco is expected to reach more than 3 billion cubic meters in 2040, leading to a maturity of the national market, concludes the release.
