Oil and Natural Gas Exploration Morocco

According to a 2013 report sponsored by the U.S. Energy Information Administration,

Morocco has 20 trillion cubic feet and 200 million barrels of technically recoverable shale
gas and oil resources, respectively. These resources include those located in the Western
Sahara territory and are mostly located in the Tindouf basin, with smaller amounts in the
Tadla basin.

Moroccos oil and gas reserves remain relatively underexplored. But the country,
geographically close to other important oil and gas producing countries, such as Algeria,
Libya or Egypt, logically presents consistent oil-rich geological characteristics. During the
past few years, the countrys geostrategic position at the crossroads of Africa, Europe and the
Middle East as well as favorable free trade agreements and recent seismic data studies have
attested that Morocco has become the new investment hub for oil and gas. And the growing
interest of oil companies in the region confirms that Moroccos hydrocarbon assets and
reserves have a lot of potential.

Over the past two years, there has been an increasing and unprecedented interest from oil and
gas companies around the world in engaging in exploration for oil and gas in Morocco.

Global major oil and gas giants such as BP, Chevron, Kosmos, and Cairn have all targeted
Moroccos potentially significant offshore resources.

Currently, there are 34 companies operating in Morocco in the framework of 131 offshore
(situated at sea some distance from the shore) and onshore (on land) exploration permits, in
addition to five reconnaissance licenses and nine exploitation concessions.

According to January 2006 estimate by the Oil and gas journal, Morocco has proven oil
reserves of According to January 2006 estimates by the Oil and Gas Journal, Morocco has
proven oil reserves of 1,070,000 barrels (170,000 m3) and natural gas reserves of 60 billion

cubic feet (1.7109 m3). Morocco may have additional hydrocarbon reserves, as many of the
country's sedimentary basins have not yet been fully explored.

The Moroccan Office of Hydrocarbons and Mining (ONHYM) has become optimistic about
finding additional reserves

At the end of 2005, 19 foreign companies were operating in Morocco, with an estimated total
investment of $56 million per year. In May 2004, China Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC)
received a license to drill near Agadir.

Oil and Natural Gas Exploration Spain

Despite being Europes fifth-largest energy consumer, Spains production of liquid fuels and
natural gas is practically non-existent.

Spain currently imports 99% of its hydrocarbons.

In March 2013, Gessal Consultants undertook a comprehensive preliminary evaluation of

prospective conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons - Total reserves: 2bn barrels of
oil and 2.5bn cubic metres of natural gas of which 80% could be found in shale rock.

According to the Spanish Oil & Gas Association ACIEP, there are currently about 70
exploration permits (for different types of hydrocarbon) in force and a further 75 awaiting
authorisation. The number of permits requested and granted has gone up by 80% in the last
five years. The average number of wells drilled between 2000 and 2010 was 2.1.

Most shale gas reserves are located in the Basque-Cantabrian basin in the north of Spain,
namely the provinces of lava (Basque Country), Burgos (Castilla y Len) and the
autonomous community of Cantabria.

In March 2014, Deloitte published the results of another study that highlights that under the
baseline scenario, the exploitation of natural gas could allow Spain to become completely
independent of gas imports by 2030 and an exporter of natural gas until 2050.

Support for Exploration

Enrique Hernndez Bento, minister for both energy and tourism, said The government will
support the explorations as long as they comply with legal and environmental requirements.
(The Guardian)

Without any significant domestic oil and gas production such as less than 50,000 barrels per
day, Spain has to import about 80 percent of its energy.

Looking to respond to criticism from autonomous communities such as Cantabria or La Rioja

(both have adopted laws to ban the use of the technique of hydraulic fracturing in their
territories), a new Environmental law entered into force in December 2013 which included a
mandatory environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for all shale gas projects including
exploration.

Well respected technical organisations such as the Geologist Institute, Engineering Institute
or the nations Council of Mining Engineers, have stressed the potential benefits of
developing shale gas in a safe and sustainable way.

In January 2014, the main unions (FITAG -UGT and CCOO FITEQA) and business
organization (FEIQUE) representing the chemical sector, signed a joint manifesto in favour
of exploration.

Chemical sector, which represents 11.5% of Spanish GDP, employs more than 500,000
people and has become the largest industrial exporter, is also supportive of the exploration.

Besides Cantabrian region and Bay of Valencia there is another very appealing formation
located in Puertollano Coal Basin. Its been explored by the mining process for shale oil until
1967 and was shut down due to inefficient technology.

In 2013, the region of Cantabria banned fracking, but the Spanish constitutional court
declared the ban unconstitutional in June 2014.

Against The Exploration

The federal government is incredibly slow with awarding licenses or making announcements
on the permit process. On average, wait for more than two years for a license award is
required.

In January 2015, Spanish oil giant Repsol has decided to call off drilling near the Canary
Islands, a small chain of Spanish-controlled islands off the coast of Morocco.
The analysis of samples obtained showed the presence of gasbut without the necessary
volume nor quality to consider future extraction. The exploratory survey confirmed that oil
and gas have been generated in the basin, although the deposits found have been saturated
with water and the hydrocarbons present are in very thin, non-exploitable layers.

Opposition in Ibiza is so fierce that the Eivissa diu no (Ibiza says no) movement has
succeeded in creating a united front across the entire political spectrum, taking in
environmental groups and hoteliers, and has won the support of celebrities such as Kate
Moss, Sienna Miller, Fatboy Slim and Paris Hilton.

References

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2015/0121/Spain-mulls-frackingafter-offshore-drilling-comes-up-dry

http://www.energy-pedia.com/news/spain/new-162177

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2014/542167/EPRS_BRI
%282014%29542167_REV1_EN.pdf

http://www.shale-world.com/2014/03/31/will-spain-unlock-large-shale-gas-potential/

http://www.shale-world.com/2014/05/09/shale-gas-europe-spain-forgotten-shale-gas-country/

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/26/spain-oil-deposit-fracking-sites-energyoffshore-gas