Morocco is preparing to launch two major gas projects in order to increase its natural gas exploitation by 70 MMcf over the next five years.
According to GlobalData, a data and analytics company, Morocco intends to reduce its dependence on coal and costly imports from Algeria. The same source specifies that the kingdom, without being a large gas producer, is on the verge of exploiting its gas potential.
“The country has nearly 700 billion cubic feet of reserves in the announced developments,” explains Santiago Varela, analyst at GlobalData, who indicates that “productive growth is expected to materialize with the launch of the first phase of Tendrara, which provides for to supply gas volumes by mid-2022 with an equilibrium development price of less than $ 5 / mcf ”. He added that “Anchovies, discovered in 2009, should produce the first gas in 2024 and will be by far the largest gas development undertaken in Morocco to date”.
Varela also stresses that the financing of the two projects poses a problem, the two companies having to ensure their implementation having limited financial capacities. “Morocco has not succeeded in developing its main gas discoveries to date, mainly due to the fact that oil has been the preferred resource to gas”, also notes Valera who stresses that “the security of capital is the last obstacle on the way to unlocking the country’s gas resources ”.
