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International oil companies continue to manoeuvre ahead of the controversial start of drilling in Moroccan-licensed acreage offshore the disputed Western Sahara – a development that is hotly contested by the Polisario Front independence movement and its supporters. Amid speculation that more Morocco players might joint Kosmos Energy and partner Cairn Energy in drilling this year, Longreach Oil & Gas has changed its name to PetroMaroc and says it has transferred its stakes in blocks that include part of the disputed territory to its partner San Leon Energy.

The refusal by a number of the local authorities of UK private equity investor Actis’ planned takeover of French operator Veolia Environnement’s electricity, water and sanitation concessions in Rabat-Salé, Tangier and Tetouan has highlighted problems of mounting investment projects in Morocco that run counter to the kingdom’s reputation as the region’s most attractive investment destination. Such is the perception of the kingdom’s strategic position that Actis says it remains interested in making Moroccan investments, either by eventually reviving the Veolia deal (if local authorities are unable to make their counterbid for the assets work) or looking for another project that might help to create a ‘hub business’ based around Morocco.

Australia’s Woodside Energy has agreed to farm in to Chariot Oil & Gas’ Rabat Deep Offshore Block, taking 25%. Chariot will remain as operator with 50%, while the state Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines has a 25% carried interest. Woodside will pay the cost of a 1,700km2 3D seismic survey acquired by Chariot in April and other back costs on the block, and finance planned sonar and seabed coring.

Opposition from local authorities to UK private equity investor Actis’ planned takeover of French operator Veolia Environnement’s electricity, water and sanitation concessions in Morocco may be explained in part by a shift in political and popular opinion away from privately financed projects and concessions back to a greater role for local politicians and the state. Morocco is not alone in this: public/private partnership models that give public bodies, and the politicians who lead them, more control are increasingly in vogue.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is appraising a E150m ($204m) loan to the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (Masen) for the third phase of the Ouarzazate solar power complex. The loan, under appraisal since 18 June, will help fund the construction and operation of a 150MW concentrated solar power plant with a total cost of E850m. The third phase will consist of a tower plant with three hours’ solar energy storage capacity. The loan is the EIB’s third for the project. Last December, the EIB approved a E250m loan to Masen for the construction and operation of a 200MW concentrated solar power parabolic plant, representing the second phase, whose total cost is estimated at E1.06bn.

Having been forced to drop diversification plans by a shareholder revolt, Galp’s partner Tangiers Petroleum has a lot riding on the success of the well, which is targeting the Jurassic Carbonate play already proven offshore Nova Scotia on the other side of the Atlantic, and proven by the JM-1 well on the adjacent Juby Maritime Block held by Cairn Energy and Genel Energy. JM-1 confirmed heavy oil in the Upper Jurassic, though the Middle Jurassic target had low reservoir quality at that location.

The focus of upstream activity in the Mediterranean has shifted from the established hydrocarbons-rich zones of North Africa to the coast of the Levant and now increasingly to parts of the Adriatic, impelled both by violence and instability in Libya and also the opening up of opportunities in these new areas. Driven by the pressures of economic austerity in the aftermath of the Euro crisis, Greece and Italy have turned back to oil and gas licensing. Greece recently launched an ‘open door’ licensing programme, and Italy has also licensed new areas after many years during which progress was effectively frozen.

The 300MW Tarfaya wind farm has begun generating electricity and will be fully operational in October. The plant is being developed by GDF Suez, in partnership with Morocco’s Nareva Holding, at a site on the southern Atlantic coast. GDF Suez won the contract to construct the project on a build-own-operate-transfer basis in February 2013 (AE 248/8). The wind farm consists of 131 80-metre turbines. As part of efforts to secure its energy supplies and meet rising demand, Morocco aims to generate 2GW from wind and 2GW from solar by 2020, representing almost half the country’s total generation capacity.

The pace of exploration in the Moroccan offshore has speeded up considerably, with geologists hoping for parallels with Nova Scotia, Brazil’s Santos Basin and offshore Angola. Its advocates argue that Morocco is underexplored – with a drilling density of only 0.04 wells/100km2 – and offers a range of oil and gas, conventional and non-conventional prospects. But after a string of widely anticipated wells have come up dry, state oil and mineral resources company Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (Onhym), its international oil company (IOC) partners – some 34 are now in the kingdom

AIM-listed Gulfsands Petroleum has finalised agreements with the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines for the acquisition of the newly created Moulay Bouchta permit. Gulfsands will operate the permit with a 75% stake, while the state oil company will retain a 25% carried interest. The permit covers 2,850km2 to the north of the company’s Rharb Sud permit and extends eastwards to surround the western, northern and eastern boundaries of its Fes Block.

As the pace of exploration speeds up offshore Morocco, Kosmos has begun drilling the FA-1 well on the Foum Assaka Block, while Cairn Energy has plugged and abandoned the JM-1 well on the Cap Juby prospect on the Juby Maritime licence. Kosmos’ well, which spudded on 16 March, will test the Eagle prospect, which the company estimates to contain 360m boe of resources in its primary deep-water Lower Cretaceous reservoir objective. It is expected to take three months to drill.

Total and Kosmos Energy have both signed a Joint Declaration of Principles with the Moroccan government setting out commitments regarding exploration and any eventual development in the disputed Western Sahara. Kosmos said the declaration signed on 19 December 2013 outlined commitments on exploration activities and the key principles under which development would proceed if commercially viable hydrocarbon deposits were discovered. It stated that any such development would be undertaken in accordance with international standards, including those in the United Nations Charter and in the 2002 UN legal opinion on resource development in the territory.

The president of the employers’ Fédération Nationale de l’Energie Moulay Abdallah Alaoui died on 8 February, aged 83. The federation has been a vocal lobby for industry interests, including moves to reduce the build up of payments arrears by Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau Potable and other state companies.

Jorf Lasfar Electricity Company (Jlec), owned by Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), has reported a higher than initial estimated profit for 2013 – at MD415m ($50.7m) – on the back of MD4.9bn revenues. Income was down 16% on the year, but this was offset by a fall in the price of coal. Jlec, which listed on the Casablanca Bourse in December, announced a MD106.6/share dividend – equivalent to 24% of the initial public offering share price (AE 268/8).