Petroleum Production in Morocco
Are hydrocarbons produced in Morocco? Where? What kind of hydrocarbons are produced? How much is produced? Sales revenue and what future?
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Are Hydrocarbons Produced in Morocco?
Yes, hydrocarbon production is concentrated in three regions: the Gharb basin, the Meskala field, and the Tendrara field. Morocco produces both natural gas and condensate, but little to no oil.
What Kind of Hydrocarbons Are Produced?
Hydrocarbons are typically classified based on physical properties such as fluid phase and mass density. For instance, natural gas is a low-density hydrocarbon, condensate is a low-density liquid and oil is a heavier liquid. From an economic standpoint, oil is more profitable than natural gas and condensate.
The Gharb basin produces natural gas only, composed of 99% methane. It is used as-is for energy generation. Production started in 1948. The gas is found in shallow deposits at a depth ranging from 700 to 1300 meters.
In the Essaouira basin, the Meskala field produces both natural gas and condensate, composed of 80% methane. It is locally processed in a treatment unit. Production started in 1987. The hydrocarbons are found in a sandstone reservoir at 3500 meters depth. A few kilometers away from Meskala, the Sidi Rhalem field produces very low volumes of oil since 1961.
The Tendrara field is expected to start gas production in 2021. The gas is trapped in tight sandstones at 2600 meters depth.
How Much Is Produced?
Not much. Morocco produces 2 thousand tons/year of oil, 5 thousand tons/year of condensate, and almost 100 million m³/year of natural gas. In comparison, Qatar produces 150 billion m³/year of gas.
Qatar produces 1500 times more natural gas than Morocco.
Morocco is a net gas importer, and its production is much less than domestic consumption. The Moroccan consumption of gas is about 1.1 billion m³/year. The natural gas produced in the Gharb and Meskala field represents only 9% of the total gas consumption.
Sales Revenue
The sales revenue of oil, natural gas, and condensate is 18 million dollars/year. The produced hydrocarbons are sold to local companies such as OCP, CMCP, and Super Cerame.
What Future?
There is still hope. The Tendrara prospect is estimated to contain between 8 and 35 billion m³ of natural gas. Production will start in 2021 and will deliver 500 million m³/year of gas to the national office of electricity and drinking water (ONEE). Tendrara is expected to bring up the country’s natural gas production to 700 million m³/year.
The sales revenue of natural gas and condensate is expected to reach 120 million dollars/year.
When we look at the gas production per well, the distribution of gas rates seems to follow the Pareto principle: 20% of the wells generate 80% of the total gas production. The Tendrara wells exhibit the highest rates.
In the long run, the production from Tendrara is likely to cover 56% of the Moroccan natural gas needs.
Conclusions
To put it in a nutshell, current hydrocarbon production and sales revenue in Morocco are negligible compared to large petroleum producers in the world. Nonetheless, recent gas discoveries in Tendrara have unlocked a significant potential and are likely to contribute to the country's energy self-sufficiency plan.
References
- General Information on the Gharb Basin: Ref. 1 (ONHYM in french) Ref. 2 (ONHYM)
- Annual Production of Gas in the Gharb Basin: Ref. 1 (ONHYM) Ref. 2 (Jacqueline Bouquerel)
- General Information on the Meskala field: Ref. 1 (ONHYM in french) Ref. 2 (Depth of the Reservoir) Ref. 3 (ONHYM) Ref. 4 (Hydrocarbon Composition)
- Annual Production of Gas and Condensates in the Meskala Field: Ref. 1 (ONHYM) Ref. 2 (Fastnet Oil & Gas Plc)
- General Information on the Tendrara field: Ref. 1 (Reserves) Ref. 2 (Sales Agreement) Ref. 3 (Sound Energy Plc)
- Annual Natural Gas Production and Consumption by Country: Ref. (BP)
- Annual Reports: Ref. (ONHYM)
Data and Methodology
Additional information about the data and methodology used in this article is available here.
