British company Chariot Oil & Gas has signed an offshore oil exploration contract with Morocco granting it six permits for exploration in the kingdom's territory, authorities said on Friday. The contract signed on Thursday includes "six permits for exploration in the Rabat Deep Offshore zone, over a surface area of approximately 10,782 square kilometres (4,163 square miles)," MAP news agency quoted the national hydrocarbon and mines office (ONHYM) as saying.
The agreement, whose value was not disclosed, was signed by Chariot director Paul Welch and ONHYM director general Amina Benkhadra and is for an initial three-year period. Morocco is an oil importing country but is "generally under-explored" as "most of its sedimentary basins possess enormous exploration potential," the ONHYM's website says.
The ONHYM oversees 90 exploration permits, 31 on land and 59 offshore, covering an area of 401,721 square kilometres (155,105 square miles) and including 23 oil companies. Morocco is also trying to remedy its energy dependence by aiming for 42 percent of its production to come from renewable sources by 2020, including 20 percent from solar energy. To meet the objective, five solar energy parks are already set for construction.