Moroccan exploration hopes threatened by slump in oil price

It was all going so well, and could still do so, but Morocco’s hoped-for offshore boom is under pressure from the slump in crude prices, which has already altered the economics of many international oil companies (IOCs). Under the benevolent eye of Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (Onhym) head Amina Benkhadra, IOCs entered the underexplored Moroccan offshore and onshore in considerable numbers in 2013-14. Many of the entrants were the majors (including BP, Chevron, Repsol and Total) and ‘super-indies’ that Onhym and political leaders in Rabat had long sought to entice into the hydrocarbons-poor kingdom, which for Moroccans includes the disputed Western Sahara. As African Energy wrote in May 2014, this year will be crunch time for Onhym and its 30-plus IOC partners (AE 277/1).