Morocco’s income from transporting Algerian gas to Europe through the Kingdom’s territories has increased 52 per cent in the first four months of 2018 to reach $64 million compared to $42 million in the same period of 2017.
The increase means the revenue for 2018 is expected to exceed the government’s budget for the year which stands at $121 million.
The Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline, which started operating in 2002, transports nearly 12 billion cubic metres of Algerian gas annually to Europe via Morocco, however the contract that regulates the pipeline will end in 2021.
The Moroccan Minister of Energy, Mining and Sustainable Development, Aziz Rabbah said in earlier statements that if Algeria and Europe do not renew the contract Morocco will have ownership of the pipeline and could use it to import gas from Europe.
Algeria is the third largest gas supplier to the EU after Russia and Norway.
