Moroccan company Mya Energy inked a deal with Russian state development cooperation VEB on Wednesday, October 23. The deal concerns the construction of a €2 billion oil refinery in the North African country.Morocco’s participation in the 2019 Russi…...
Moroccan company Mya Energy inked a deal with Russian state development cooperation VEB on Wednesday, October 23. The deal concerns the construction of a €2 billion oil refinery in the North African country.
Morocco’s participation in the 2019 Russian-African summit has already reaped fruits. A high-level delegation of senior officials and business operators flew to Sochi, Russia to take part in the event, including Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani. Moroccan state owned news agency Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) reported on October 23 that the VEB and the recently formed Moroccan company signed the deal to build a petrochemical complex in northern Morocco.
The estimated initial refining capacity is 100,000 barrels per day. The company will aim for a target of 200,000 barrels per day after the initial phase. MAP cited a statement from the Moroccan company, saying that the development and implementation of the project will be carried out by the Moroccan company in partnership with several Russian actors in the field of energy. The Russian actors in the field will provide their Moroccan counterparts with expertise, technology, and equipment. For Mya Energy, the refinery facility will open doors for direct and indirect job opportunities to help reduce unemployment. “This project is expected to create several thousand direct and indirect jobs, especially in the northern region of the kingdom.”
The location of the refinery also plays a strategic role as it seeks to take advantage of the port facilities of Nador West Med With this project, Morocco seeks to achieve domestic oil production as it has been importing most of its energy needs after the shutdown of its sole refinery SAMIR since 2015. The refinery closed down due to unpaid heavy debt. According to OEC, Morocco’s top imports are “refined petroleum ($3.13B)(…) and Petroleum Gas ($1.27 B).” General director of the Mya Energy firm Youssef El Alaoui signed the deal along with the president of the Russian development cooperation, Daniil Algulyan, and the vice president of the Russian Center for Export Nikita Gusakov.
