Morocco has announced plans to dig six new oil and gas wells in various regions of the country. The new wells will be dug in Talsint, eastern Morocco, where important oil and gas deposits have been found, as well as in the offshore area near Casablanca, the country's financial and economic metropolis, said Ms.Amina Benkhadra, Director-General of the Moroccan Oil Company (ONAREP).
The US Lone Star company holds licenses to drill in several parts in central, southern and northern Morocco, said Ms. Benkhadra. She added that the
geophysical studies conducted by the American company indicate a high probability of finding more important deposits.
The Oil Company chief said the Moroccan offshore areas are located on 325 square km of sedimentary basins along 3,500 km. These zones are
similar to other offshore locations in the world where oil has already been discovered, such as Angola, Gabon and the Gulf of Mexico.
More than twelve international companies are currently drilling in Morocco, including Canada's Cabre, Holland's Shell and England's Enterprise.
At the end of last month Morocco announced the discovery of oil and gas fields in Talsint, where reserves were officially put at 50 to 100 million barrels.
International oil companies started to flock into Morocco, following the parliament's adoption of the hydrocarbons law last February.
The new law grants the companies 75 percent of the share of the oil they find, and exempts them from paying taxes for the first ten years of oil operations. –(Albawaba-MEBG)
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
