Hunt for African Oil Leads Chevron to Morocco.

Oil companies are planning as many as 10 wells in Moroccan waters through 2014, . Thatis twice what was drilled in the past decade and represents the fastest pace  of opening wells since at least 2000. U.K.-based Cairn Energy Plc (CNE) is scheduled to start drilling the Foum Draa prospect in the fourth quarter. Chevron, the second-biggest publicly traded U.S. oil producer, picked up three offshore licenses last month, notes an article by Bloomberg.

As more prospectors study Africa, Morocco’s stability through the Arab Spring revolts and the 10-year tax holiday to drillers is making the country more attractive despite it still being risky as no major oil discovery as yet taken place. Moroco is still largely unexplored particularly offshore .While oil exploration in the Sahara is senn by some as controversial only Kosmos and Total have actually been involved in working there.

 Morocco has only 1.6 wells per 10,000 square kilometers (3,900 square miles) of licensed offshore acreage, compared with the world average of 51according to experts. Now giants such as Chevron ,Reposl and Kosmos are competing with smaller companies like Fatsnet and Chariot Oil and Gas. For Morocco the chance to cut back on its fuel bill as it imports 99 per cent of its oil and  90 percent of its gas is a major incentive and for the International exploration companies the tax incentives which charge   them less 30 per cent on the income from oil discoveries is amongst the best in the world.

While the biggest potential finds may be offshore, Longreach Oil & Gas Ltd. (LOI), Circle Oil Plc (COP) and Gulfsands Petroleum Plc (GPX) are stepping up gas production efforts onshore. Longreach, a Canadian company with a C$64 million market capitalization, is drilling two wells this year, with the first starting in the second quarter.

The aim is to achieve a major find  worth millions butit is still a matter of risk.