Morocco and Spain Eye Joint Oil Exploration off Sahara Coast

As part of the agreement with Spain on the delimitation of maritime borders, Morocco should be able to carry out oil explorations in the Canary Islands, off the Sahara, reports the daily Al Ahdath Al Maghribia. The kingdom is also asking to have leeway in the area to carry out rescue operations. For its part, Spain is asking for the delimitation of the maritime space with Morocco at the point located at 27° 40 north latitude.

Morocco has already started exploring hydrocarbons in the waters under its sovereignty, confirmed the president of the Canary Islands, Angel Víctor Torres, specifying that the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, had assured that the working group between Spain and Morocco "is working to find an agreement on the sovereignty of the waters surrounding the Canary Islands archipelago. We will delimit this space, which will be jointly exploited, forever".

The Italian company Eni has been drilling in the Tarfaya area since 2017 as part of an agreement with the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM). The company is exploring over 23,000 kilometers off Sidi Ifni, Tan Tan and Tarfaya. It has ceded 30% of its license to Qatar Petroleum, which holds 45% of the exploration against 25% for ONHYM.