Morocco keeps on believing in the oil dream
With optimism and determination, Morocco is pursuing its oil exploration projects in the various regions. Relentlessly, the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mining ( ONHYM ) carries out, by its own means, numerous geological, geophysical, geochemical, and petroleum assessment studies in the various onshore basins and on the segments of the Atlantic and Mediterranean offshore areas.
Added to these is the work carried out by the partner international oil companies holding permits. « The investments made are directed towards the acquisition of new 2D/3D onshore and offshore seismic data as well as exploration drilling «, indicates Amina Benkhadra, Director General of ONHYM.
These data have made it possible to determine new areas of interest and new prospects, thus enhancing the Moroccan oil potential. Yes, in addition to the regions of Gharb, Tendrara, and Lixus for gas potential, many areas in Morocco have a promising oil potential. ONHYM is convinced of this.
« Essaouira onshore is a basin that has produced gas and condensate of the Triassic since the 1980s, and oil of the Jurassic ear since the 1970s. The latest drilling activity in this basin has revealed accumulations of hydrocarbons in the Triassic and the Jurassic, which must be confirmed by additional work”, underlines Amina Benkhadra.
Similarly, the Pre-Rif region in northern Morocco was a hydrocarbon (oil) producing province until the 1950s. «Exploration activities are currently focused on the Meso-Rif area which has similarities with the Pre-Rif area, but whose objectives are larger in size than those of the Pre-Rif area.”, added the Director General.
.Insufficient drilling
At the far end of the country is the vast Zag -Lower Draa Basin, which is the westernmost extension of the prolific Paleozoic basins that stretch across North Africa. However, this basin is almost unexplored. Offshore, off the Atlantic coast, although the number of wells drilled is very insufficient and limited to almost only two areas (Tarfaya and Agadir offshore), modest discoveries of light and heavy oils have been made. Hydrocarbon shows were recorded in most of the wells.
“To the south, in the Agadir – Tarfaya offshore segment, seven wells were drilled between 2000 and 2017, revealing accumulations of heavy and light oils as well as gas, and highlighting viable and functioning petroleum systems” , added Amina Benkhadra.
Further south, in the Boujdour basin, only one well has been drilled to date in 2014 in this vast area of approximately 200,000 square kilometers, which has revealed an accumulation of gas and condensate.
Despite the many types of plays developed , very few wells have been drilled in the entire Moroccan Atlantic margin, which ultimately contains only 43 boreholes (out of a total of 45 offshore boreholes).
Khadija SKALLI
