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Eni is planning to drill a well on its Tarfaya Offshore Shallow exploration block in H1 2023. Tarfaya is Eni’s only Moroccan acreage, comprising a dozen licences in water depths of up to 1,000m between Agadir and the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

Plans for the ambitious Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) were given a boost in mid-October, when Mauritania and Senegal became the first two transit countries to sign memoranda of understanding (MoUs) for the 7,000km-plus project.

Europe’s hunger for non-Russian sources of natural gas has intensified diplomatic and commercial rivalries in the eastern Mediterranean, pushed ambitious schemes to the forefront, and raised the prospects of other African gas plays that were previously considered marginal. But it is not obvious that European governments or buyers are ready to plump for one favoured deal over the rest, meaning the gas could still go elsewhere.  

London AIM-listed Sound Energy on 14 September announced a ruling against it by tax authorities it its dispute with the Moroccan tax authorities. Sound estimated the ruling could cost it $19.7m in back taxes; it has 60 days to accept the decision or challenge it in court.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on 15 September between Morocco’s Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (Onhym), Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) to progress the 7,000km Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) project.

Morocco plans to promote a project to develop an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant, to be integrated with the kingdom’s existing vehicle manufacturing industry including Renault and Citroen manufacturing plants.

Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX)-listed Tenaz Energy Corporation has pulled out of its takeover of SDX Energy after only 20.2% of the London AIM-listed firm’s shareholders voted in favour of the deal. In further corporate manoeuvres, Egypt-Morocco-focused SDX has lined up a new anchor investor, Aleph Commodities, with which it is working on a “refreshed and ambitious strategy”.

Finance has been put in place for the long-anticipated repowering of Morocco’s (and Africa’s) pioneering wind farm at Koudia Al-Baida, in the hilly Tlat Taghramt region overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar near Tangier.

Dubai-based developer Amea Power announced on 2 August it had started construction of a 34MW solar PV plant, with Tangier-based partner GPM Holding. A ground-breaking ceremony was held at Hjar Nhal on 26 July. The developer is GreenPower Morocco 1, a project company owned by Amea and GPM.

Morocco is to develop a legally-binding framework to exchange carbon credits with Singapore. The deal falls under Article 6.2 of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change’s Paris Agreement which permits countries to exchange carbon credits bilaterally.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has overturned global calculations about natural gas supply, especially in Europe, meaning projects previously thought unfeasible are now making progress. One possible beneficiary is the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline, strongly pushed by King Mohammed VI and supported by his friend President Muhammadu Buhari, which could now undergo a radical change to supply the European network.

Following initial overtures, the decision to co-develop the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline as a gas superhighway linking Nigeria and other gas producers with over a dozen markets along its route – and inland to supply landlocked countries via spurs – was agreed by King Mohammed VI and President Muhammadu Buhari, during the Moroccan monarch’s late 2016 state visit to Nigeria.

Nigerian petroleum minister Timipre Sylva has called on all parties to fast-track the African Union (AU)-endorsed Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) from Nigeria to Algeria via Niger. The move follows federal government backing earlier this month for Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) to enter an agreement with the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) to build the ambitious Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP).

London AIM-listed Chariot has signed a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract with Schlumberger and Subsea 7 for the Anchois gas project in the offshore Lixus licence area.

The Abuja government has given a green light for construction of the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) connecting Nigeria, Morocco and at least 11 countries in between.