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).