Morocco Explores Untapped Gas Potential as Domestic Production Lags Behind Demand

On Monday, during a plenary session devoted to the national energy strategy in parliament, Leila Benali lifted a corner of the veil on Morocco’s gas potential.

Recalling the figures of the ONHYM, she indicated that Morocco has a total exploration area of 233,600 km², divided into 9 exploitation licenses and 53 exploration licenses, including 26 offshore licenses, adding that between 2005 and 2020, the investment amount in the sector reached more than 27 billion dirhams.

According to the forecasts, national natural gas production should increase from 98 million cubic meters in 2020 to more than 110 million cubic meters in 2021. "This is a low level, compared to the annual national consumption which now exceeds one billion cubic meters," however noted the minister.

And to specify that currently, the density of drilling in Morocco is on average 4 wells per 10 km², while the world average is 1,000 wells per 10 km².