alkhabar
Maghreb
Haddou Jabour of the National Office of Hydrocarbons and mines (ONHYM) said at the 1st International Exhibition of Energy, which runs until October 5 in Marrakech that "the accelerating pace of exploration of deposits of hydrocarbons, digging through March to May annually exploration wells, 20 to 30 wells, is essential to take up the opportunity to discover significant quantities of hydrocarbons in Morocco in the future. "
Morocco has so far not found significant oil and gas despite a number of explorations. However experts and OMHYM's research says that Morocco remains comparatively under reserched and new exploration and drilling techniques mean that exploration operations particularly deep offshore now have more chance of success.Morocco is heavily dependent on oil imporatswhich are themselves subsidised and when Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane raised the cost of petrol it caused considerable public reaction.
Morocco has the most attractive investment incentives fro oil and gasexploration in the world includingan initial 10-year tax exemption and oil and gas royalty rates that do not exceed 10% or 5%, respectively. in response some 30 foreign firms, including the US-based Anadarko Petroleum and Spain-based Repsol, began conducting surveys in on- and offshore blocks earlier this year, according to Oxford Business Group.
In late August, British oil company Cairn Energy bought a second stake in offshore oil and gas exploration. Company officials indicated that Cairn would contribute $60m for a 50% stake in the Foum Draa block and farm-in as an operator.
Cairn will become the majority stakeholder, sharing the licence with the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM, 25%), and smaller explorers San Leon Energy (14.2%), Serica Energy (8.3%), and Longreach Oil and Gas (2.5%). Exploratory drilling on one or more deepwater wells is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2013, pending regulatory approval.
London-listed company Genel Energy also assumed ownership of the offshore Sidi Moussa licence in August by purchasing a 60% stake at a maximum estimated cost of $50m. the Société Anonyme Marocaine de l’Industrie de Raffinage (SAMIR) is aiming to increase downstream capabilities and has a refining capacity of 6.5m tonnes per year. SAMIR also announced the launch of a Jet A-1 fuel refinery unit with a capacity of 600,000 tonnes per year. It issued a tender in August for 60,000 of jet fuel . it has also a new crude distillation unit with the capacity to process 80,000 barrels per day, boosting total capacity to 200,000 barrels per day.
Experts have expressed optimism that deepwater exploratory drilling and greater seismic research will yield results in the coming years, and an increased refinery capacity should help to bring in revenue. There has been some scepeticism voiced in Morocco about the possibility of significant oil and gas finds being achieved but experts stress that many areas remain unexplored and that the new exploration techniques will aid exploration efforts. All the seismic and geograhical data look promising they say.
Morocco has so far not found significant oil and gas despite a number of explorations. However experts and OMHYM's research says that Morocco remains comparatively under reserched and new exploration and drilling techniques mean that exploration operations particularly deep offshore now have more chance of success.Morocco is heavily dependent on oil imporatswhich are themselves subsidised and when Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane raised the cost of petrol it caused considerable public reaction.
Morocco has the most attractive investment incentives fro oil and gasexploration in the world includingan initial 10-year tax exemption and oil and gas royalty rates that do not exceed 10% or 5%, respectively. in response some 30 foreign firms, including the US-based Anadarko Petroleum and Spain-based Repsol, began conducting surveys in on- and offshore blocks earlier this year, according to Oxford Business Group.
In late August, British oil company Cairn Energy bought a second stake in offshore oil and gas exploration. Company officials indicated that Cairn would contribute $60m for a 50% stake in the Foum Draa block and farm-in as an operator.
Cairn will become the majority stakeholder, sharing the licence with the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM, 25%), and smaller explorers San Leon Energy (14.2%), Serica Energy (8.3%), and Longreach Oil and Gas (2.5%). Exploratory drilling on one or more deepwater wells is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2013, pending regulatory approval.
London-listed company Genel Energy also assumed ownership of the offshore Sidi Moussa licence in August by purchasing a 60% stake at a maximum estimated cost of $50m. the Société Anonyme Marocaine de l’Industrie de Raffinage (SAMIR) is aiming to increase downstream capabilities and has a refining capacity of 6.5m tonnes per year. SAMIR also announced the launch of a Jet A-1 fuel refinery unit with a capacity of 600,000 tonnes per year. It issued a tender in August for 60,000 of jet fuel . it has also a new crude distillation unit with the capacity to process 80,000 barrels per day, boosting total capacity to 200,000 barrels per day.
Experts have expressed optimism that deepwater exploratory drilling and greater seismic research will yield results in the coming years, and an increased refinery capacity should help to bring in revenue. There has been some scepeticism voiced in Morocco about the possibility of significant oil and gas finds being achieved but experts stress that many areas remain unexplored and that the new exploration techniques will aid exploration efforts. All the seismic and geograhical data look promising they say.
