Morocco wants to expand the share of gas in its energy mix –Fouad Diouri

On the sidelines of the 3rd Ministerial Forum gases Paris, Fouad Douiri, Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment, said that "Morocco is currently small gas consumer, wants to increase the share of the commodity in its energy mix, given its features availability, cleanliness and adaptability. "Moreover, Morocco has set up a liquefied natural gas terminal in the region of El Jadida at Jorf Lasfar which can be connected to any distribution network.It  is an important investment that has been accomplished in a partnership between the public sector and the private sector.

Morocco imports over 90% of  its energy making it one of Africa’s largest importers of oil and gas with increasing energy demand, discovering further domestic energy resource would be of national benefit and help address this imbalance between supply and demand.

There are a number of international and national oil and gas companies operating in Morocco including  Repsol, Dana Petroleum, Kosmos, Petro‐Canada, Circle Oil, MPE, Petro‐Canada (Suncor), RWE, TransAtlantic, Cabre, San Leon, DVM,  Genel Energy,Cairn Energy, Fastnet Oil and Gas,and Chariot Oil and Gas.

Morocco's commitment to the development of the natural gas option has resulted in two major projects.  The first is the Tahaddart combined cycle power plant, which produces 400 MW and is supplied using a portion of the fees charged on gas flowing through the country on its way from Algeria to Europe via the Medgaz pipeline.  The second is the Ain Beni Mathar central thermal plant, with a production capacity of 470 MW,accoding to  the website Nuqudy.Natural gas has an important potential role to play in power generation for  electricity production.
 
 Morocco began to import natural gas from Algeria last November, but  these imports are small  and are intended entirely for the production of electricity in the Ain Beni Mathar thermal power plant.  At the end of May 2012, imports of natural gas only reached 255.96 MNm3 (million cubic meters).

Natural gas would allow Morocco to diversify its sources of energy and to reduce CO2 emissions, and the potential demand is estimated at 5 billion cubic meters in 2013 and 10 billion cubic meters in 2018.