The reality of oil in Morocco: 67 wells drilled in two years
The Moroccan Government only mentions as relevant that of Repsol against Larache
67 wells drilled in the 2020-2022 period in search of oil or natural gas, 40 of them with the presence of variable amounts of natural gasto the. And with the recent discovery of gas in the Larache area, north of the Atlantic coast, as the one with the highest business expectations.
That is the updated balance of the search for oil and gas on the Atlantic coast of Morocco that was presented last week in Rabat by the general director of the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM), Amina Benkhadra.
In his speech before the Committee on Infrastructure, Energy, Mines and the Environment in the House of Representatives, Benkhadra specified that
these discoveries, although small, are economically profitable due to the availability of an on-site gas pipeline network and a local market represented by several industrial units.
Regarding the balance of exploration, Benkhadra explained that the Repsol company has discovered quantities of gas off the coast of Larache and that they have been confirmed by the well carried out by Chariot Oil between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, according to the agency. Official News Map.
As for the Essaouira onshore region, Benkhadra added that recent drilling results have also revealed the presence of Triassic and Jurassic deposits that will be confirmed by further studies.
The official Map agency adds that the general director of ONHYM also indicated that in the
Tendara Basin Five wells have been drilled by the Office and its partners Sound Energy and Schlumberger between 2016 and 2019, two of which have shown the presence of natural gas, and he explained in this regard that an "exploitation contract" has been concluded for the development of the area and its qualification for production.
Refering to
Tarfaya Agadir offshore areathe person in charge reported the drilling of 7 wells, three of them in shallow waters, among which two revealed the presence of heavy and light oil in the maritime areas of Tarfaya and Ifni, while 4 wells were drilled in deep waters, of which 3 revealed signs of oil and gas.
In the
Bojado offshore zonercovering 200,000 square kilometers, Benkhadra reported the drilling, in late 2014 and early 2015, of a well by the Office's two partners, Kosmos and Capricorn, which revealed the discovery of gas and condensates that turned out to be economically unfeasible.
Last week, the British company Europa Oil & Gas published the usual annual report on its operations, which includes the North Sea and the Irish coast, as well as
authorization for prospecting in Morocco, some 400 kilometers north of La Graciosa, on the Moroccan coast.
In said report, it includes a section related to this activity in Morocco, in which it indicates the “recent identification” of a possible oil bag that could hold one billion barrels of crude.
From Morocco it is recognized that this type of reports is common, aimed above all at obtaining financial resources and raising the stock price of the companies that carry out prospecting. In any case, and after years of authorizations, Morocco continues without finding large bags of crude oil on its coast.
