Morocco To Become A Gas-Rich Country

Rabat – Morocco’s latest gas projects move the country “closer to unlocking [its] domestic gas riches,” according to Global Data, an international data analytics and consulting company.

GlobalData’s latest report, “Morocco Exploration & Production,” reveals that Morocco has almost 700 billion cubic feet of gas reserves sitting in developments. Two recent projects, Tendrara, and Anchois, could help the country achieve gas extraction at 70 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) within the next five years.

While Tendrara can expect “productive growth” by mid-2022, and Anchois “will be the largest gas development undertaken in Morocco to date, by far,” Santiago Varela, an analyst at GlobalData, believes that the main obstacle for both projects is financing.

“For both projects, the major obstacle is obtaining adequate financing, since neither of the two operators have sufficient funds to undertake these developments alone,” noted Varela.

Financing for these kinds of large-scale projects is usually difficult to secure, even more so in Morocco.

“Morocco has failed to develop its major gas discoveries to date, mainly due to the fact that oil has been the preferred resource over gas,” explained the analyst. Nonetheless, “with the focus turning to gas, an attractive fiscal framework and strong domestic demand, international operators are pushing hard to develop the country’s resources,” Varela continued.

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The analyst concluded the study by stressing that “it is not yet clear whether the current operators will be able to finalise the necessary funding required to develop the fields.”

Meanwhile, Chariot Oil & Gas, the gas and oil exploration company working in Anchois, has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the Moroccan Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the Digital Economy to become a local gas supplier.

The signing of the memorandum followed the discovery of significantly higher gas reserves in the Anchois field than the initial assessment implied. In September 2020, the group announced that its total recoverable gas resources exceed one trillion cubic feet. The number represents an increase of 148% compared to the company’s initially-reported figures.