“Gas has been a growing component of Morocco’s power generation mix”, says Chariot Oil&Gas, the London listed minnow who is looking to develop a gas field in the country.
“Attractive gas prices are established for power generation and industry”, the company notes.
The power sector pays $8 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), which roughly equates a thousand cubic feet (Mscf). It the sort of price that gas producers dream about, especially at this time when international prices have shrunk.
It gets even better.
Gas prices for industry are in the range of $9-11/MMBtu.
Rabat is pushing natural gas as part of the national strategy to reduce imports and transition to lower carbon energy.
A key problem is that coal significantly dominates the energy scene. Although Morocco imports most of its energy needs, facilities for gas commercialization are underutilized. The installed gas fired electricity capacity is 850MW using around 100Million standard cubic feet of gas per day. Natural gas supplies 15% of the country’s electricity. But the Moroccan government isn’t looking at gas as the prime energy fuel in the forseeable future. The country, instead, talks up renewables.
Chariot keeps scouting for investors to develop the Anchois gas find. We are “continuing to engage with off-takers and develop alternative commercialisation routes for gas and liquids”, the company says in its latest update.
