Oil products: A stock for 30 days of consumption
The stock situation in terms of energy and petroleum products is hardly flourishing. Indeed, Morocco barely has a stock of 1.9 million cubic meters of liquid petroleum products and half a million of liquefied gas, according to the latest data provided by Leila Benali during question time at the House of Councilors last Tuesday.
According to the Minister for Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, the stock of petroleum products has reached nearly 30 days of national consumption. In this context, the ministry wants to speed up the pace with private sector projects intended to develop additional storage capacities which could reach half a million cubic meters or nearly 13 additional days for an investment of 2 billion Dirhams (US$ 200 million) this year.
The Minister recalled the outdated legal framework which does not allow the Government to play a direct role in the creation of the strategic stock and impact prices. Similarly, the legislative and regulatory arsenal does not take into account the raw materials consumed by citizens and the economic fabric. According to the Minister, her department embarked on a participatory approach in 2022 with the various operators in the sector. The goal of this initiative is to update and modernize this legal framework. It is in this spirit that she has created a commission responsible for preparing texts related to petroleum products. The Minister held a meeting on January 13, in the presence of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Moroccan Petroleum Association, and the Energy Federation. Thus, a committee set up is responsible for planning the basic infrastructure of energy products. Work started last October on a study to prepare infrastructure to improve Morocco’s competitive capacities. At the end of this study, the results will be used to implement a new system intended to manage the stock of reserves and to improve storage capacities in a balanced way, across the whole country. As for natural gas, the Minister recalled the development and implementation of an emergency plan by her department in October 2021. The plan includes four stages. Today, Leila Benali is working on the fourth stage concerning an infrastructure master plan, but without providing further details.
Mohamed Chaoui
