GAS AND POWER: Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania pin hopes on gas
| Published date | 01 November 2017 |
| Date | 01 November 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/oet.12536 |
GAS AND POWER
Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania pin hopes on gas
ree energy-short North African countries are looking
to natural gas for a solution. Tunisia and Morocco want
to increase their own production. Mauritania has the
much more ambitious aim to become a gas exporter.
Politics and geology are proving a handicap in the case
of Tunisia and Morocco. Mauritania’s plans could be
delayed by low liqueed natural gas (LNG) prices.
Tunisia
Tunisia appears to have sucient reserves of gas to
allowsomeincreaseinitsproduction,butpolitical
unrest is deterring investors. Productionhas b een falling
since 2010, forcing it to increase imports. Output in
2010 was 300 mn cfd and this year looks like being in
the region of 200 mn cfd. Demand has remained more
or less unchanged, at 500 mn cfd, which means that
imports have risen by about 100 mn cfd, to 300 mn cfd
(see Tab le C ).
ere are a number of areas that are prosp ective for
gas. One of them, Nawara in the southern province of
Tataouine,is being developed by Austria’sOMV. Output
is forecast at nearly 100 mn cfd; butthe completion of the
projecthas been substantially delayed.e eld was orig-
inally due on-stream in 2012 but the start-up has been
repeatedly postponed, with 2019 the present target date.
Nawara is the only gas development of any size that is
under-way at present. Many oil and gas companies have
been frightened-o the country by the high levels of vio-
lence and political unrest that have aicted Tunisia since
the end of 2010, from which Nawara itself has not been
immune. Groups protesting against the high levels of
unemploymentin the south of the countryhave been tar-
geting oil andgas operations, blockading elds and inter-
rupting production at a number of gaselds. Tunisia’s
gas production has declined steadily since 2010, follow-
ing the suicide of Muhammad Bouazizi in December of
that year, which led to an uprising and the overthrow
of the government at the beginning of 2011. Since then,
the authorities have fought in vain to stem the violence
and unrest, which have proved to be a massive deterrent
to much-needed outsideinvestment in the country’s gas
industry while the government shows little sign of being
able to bring the violence under control.
Morocco
Morocco’s reserves and production of gas are minus-
cule and nearly al l of its modest consumption is met by
imports (see Tab le D ). Ou tp ut i s fr om t wo s ma ll e ld s in
the north of the country. About ve years ago, there was
some interest in dri lling oshore, but when no commer-
cial nds were made activity ceased. Exploration interest
Table C
Tunisia: Gas Prole, 2017
Proven Reserves 2.3 tcf∗
Reserves Remaining 31.5years†
(bn cfd)‡
Production 0.2
Consumption 0.5
Net Imports 0.3
∗As of 1.1.17
†Based on 2017 estimated production
‡Firsthalfestimate
Source: (Reserves) Oil & Gas Journal,
(Other) Author’s estimate
Table D
Morocco: Gas Prole, 2017
Proven Reserves 51 bn cf∗
Reserves Remaining 17 years†
(mn cfd)‡
Production 8
Consumption 120
Net Imports 112
∗As of 1.1.17
†Based on 2017 estimated production
‡Firsthalfestimate
Source: (Reserves) Oil & Gas Journal, (Other) Author’s estimate
is now focused on th e onshore sector, which is estimated
to hold large reserves of shale gas; but low oil and gas
prices make their exploitation uneconomicat present. Of
rather more interest is an area close to the border with
Algeria, known as Tendrara.
In 2016, British independent, Sound Energy spudded
its rst well on the Tendrara prospect. Two further
wells indicated commercial volumes of gas, with an
initial estimate of gas originally in place of 1.03 tcf.
More exploration is planned amid predictions that the
whole of eastern Morocco could contain 17tcf of gas
originally in place. If this should eventually be proved
to be the case, Morocco could eventually become an
exporter of natural gas. e eastern Morocco elds
lie75milessouthofAlgeria’sGasMaghreb-Europe
pipeline to Spain, which passes through northern
Morocco. e 1.2 bn cfd line carries about 0.9 bn cfd to
Spain and Portugal plus another 0.1bn cfd to Morocco,
giving it spare capacit y of ab out 0.2 bn cfd for any
gas that might be produced at Tendrara or adjacent
areas.
ere are also signs of a revival in the oshore sector,
where BP, Chevron, and ENI have interests. EN I may be
about to resume exploration activitythere. ere is even
asmalllevelofactivityinthelargeshaledepositsinthe
© 2017 John Wiley& Sons Ltd
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