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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.

Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX)-listed Tenaz Energy Corporation is buying Egypt- and Morocco-focused gas producer SDX Energy in an all-share $27m acquisition backed by SDX’s management and board. The deal will see SDX delist from London’s AIM market and brings an ambitious Canada-based independent into North Africa.

Xlinks has secured an undisclosed investment in its Morocco-UK power project from UK-based energy supplier Octopus Energy Group as it pushes ahead with the ambitious scheme. Speaking to African Energy, Xlinks said it has also secured development finance commitments and is in talks to raise funding to cover the full cost of the project.

In a trading and operations update issued just ahead of its 12 May annual general meeting, London-listed Genel Energy said that, beyond its focus of two decades on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, it was planning work in two African jurisdictions.

The Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) scheme has secured more funding for studies – this time from the Opec Fund for International Development – despite some scepticism about the mega-project’s potential to ever get off the ground. Consultants have been lining up, with Australia’s Worley contracted to provide engineering services.

Sound Energy has pulled out of its longstanding offer for fellow London AIM-listed company Angus Energy and its onshore Saltfleetby gas field in Lincolnshire, UK.

AIM-listed Chariot has appointed Société Générale’s London branch as its financial advisor to develop debt funding options for the offshore Anchois gas development in Morocco. 

London-listed Chariot, Predator, SDX and Sound have all provided recent market updates on their operations in Morocco, where the need to secure new gas flows after the closure of the Europe-Maghreb Gas pipeline last year has given added urgency to the operators’ ambitions.

Supporters of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara have described it as an act of realism which places Madrid at the top table of decision-makers. However, for other observers, the decision is puzzling.

European leaders are confronting the urgent need to diversify energy supplies away from Russia, while also somehow keeping to their commitments to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, that they made – indeed pioneered – at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, just four months ago.  African Energy examines the options and projects under discussion including gas and electricity imports and hydrogen prospects.

The energy-focused group belonging to Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch remains a major player in petroleum products trading and distribution and potentially upstream gas developments during a period when rising prices are adding to popular pressures on the Moroccan government to act and the PM has come under unexpectedly severe personal attack, writes a Special Correspondent, with Jon Marks.

The contract to carry out a technical study for the liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal at Mohammedia port has been awarded by the National Ports Agency (ANP) to a consortium of the local Conseil Ingénierie Développement (CID) and French companies Artelia and Principia.

Thanks to a combination of high solar radiation and superlative wind resources, the massive, largely desert zone along north-west Africa’s Atlantic coast has become a focus for huge projects in what is starting to look like a new scramble for Africa. Recent developments include Chariot and Total Eren positioning themselves to take advantage of the emerging business opportunity in the production of green hydrogen in Morocco and Mauritania. This follows close on the footsteps of CWP Global and Xlinks. Others such as Harmattan Energy are looking at the disputed Western Sahara (under a UN mandate). As the number of prospective schemes grows, so too will the pressure to secure land rights and authorisations – a familiar issue for businesses with long track records in securing upstream and mineral rights across the continent.

London AIM-listed Chariot announced on 10 January it had found “significant” volumes of natural gas at an exploration well on the Anchois prospect in the offshore Lixus licence area. Analysts believe the find could alter the kingdom’s calculations for natural gas supply – and especially its import prospects

A tender issued by national ports agency ANP to update its Mohammedia facility to accommodate Morocco’s first liquified natural gas terminal and FSRU generated considerable excitement in an industry expecting the kingdom to import LNG to help cover its power industry needs after Algeria stopped sending gas through the Maghreb-Europe Gas pipeline. ANP’s tender may fit into Morocco’s LNG plans, but does not yet mean the energy ministry’s out-to-tender gas import plan is a done deal, with key stakeholders still appraising the direction Morocco will eventually take, write Our Casablanca Correspondent and Jon Marks