Morocco Unveils Draft Law to Regulate Natural Gas Sector

The draft law sets the conditions and rules related to the import, export, storage, transport, distribution and supply of natural gas in Morocco, reports Challenge. It also provides for the creation of a public manager of natural gas transport networks, as well as sanctions against offenders of the new rules that will govern this sector.

"The main measures first concern the manager of the transport networks, who will have to develop a ten-year plan for the development of the gas infrastructure under his responsibility, in coordination with the administration in charge of energy and after consultation with the users. This plan will have to take into account the medium and long-term forecasts concerning the consumption and national production of natural gas," writes the magazine.

The text also defines the methods for calculating natural gas tariffs, which concern the fixing of costs related to transport, storage, distribution, network access, as well as margin ceilings. The government’s objective in drafting this bill is to ensure better protection of consumers and to take measures to put an end to the abuses of certain suppliers.

"Thus, the aggregator is required to sell natural gas to final consumers connected to the distribution or transport networks, while respecting the fixed selling prices and guaranteeing the quality of the gas delivered. In addition, the legislator enshrines the protection of the rights of final consumers, in particular their right to freely choose their operator, to benefit from a transparent procedure to change supplier, and to be informed before any modification of the contractual conditions," it reads.