Finding oil in Morocco
One of the biggest surprises at this year’s North Africa Oil and Gas Summit was the level of buzz about Morocco, generally regarded as the region’s outstanding “have-not” country in terms of oil and gas,reports the oil website Platts.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Finding-oil-in-...
Morocco’s Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) has been emphasising that Morocco is underexplored and a number of international oil and gas companies have now invested in the sector agreeing with this analysis.Exploration in deepwater of the Atlantic coast is accelerating. New IOC's include Anglo-Turkish Genel Energy, which has a 60% working interest in the Sidi Moussa block and in late November acquired 75% of the contiguous Mir Left block. It is also junior partner in the Juby Maritime block with 37.5%.
UK’s Cairn Energy is Juby’s operator, also with a 37.5% stake, and in August purchased 50% of the Foum Draa blocks from three smaller explorers.
A third big name player in international frontier exploration is Bermuda-registered Kosmos Energy, which is the operator of three offshore licenses acquired in 2011. It has a 100% working interest in the Tarhazoute block, 56.3% in Foum Assaka and 37.5% in Essaouira.
These IOCs have impressive track records in finding oil and gas in underexplored areas. Morocco's generous exploration incentives have undoubtedly helped attract IOCs who are looking to spread risk over a number of regions. However as Platts notes, Morocco's first well was drilled as long ago as 1919 and in 2010 oil production averaged a mere 210 b/d and gas output at only 4,800 mcf/d. Morocco imports most of its hydrocarbon needs and is looking to find its own reserves.
UK’s Cairn Energy is Juby’s operator, also with a 37.5% stake, and in August purchased 50% of the Foum Draa blocks from three smaller explorers.
A third big name player in international frontier exploration is Bermuda-registered Kosmos Energy, which is the operator of three offshore licenses acquired in 2011. It has a 100% working interest in the Tarhazoute block, 56.3% in Foum Assaka and 37.5% in Essaouira.
These IOCs have impressive track records in finding oil and gas in underexplored areas. Morocco's generous exploration incentives have undoubtedly helped attract IOCs who are looking to spread risk over a number of regions. However as Platts notes, Morocco's first well was drilled as long ago as 1919 and in 2010 oil production averaged a mere 210 b/d and gas output at only 4,800 mcf/d. Morocco imports most of its hydrocarbon needs and is looking to find its own reserves.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Finding-oil-in-...