The Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali, said Monday, December 19, 2022, in the House of Representatives, that her department is currently examining several scenarios with foreign investors to reactivate the oil refining company Samir.
Questioned by the parliamentary group of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) in the House of Representatives on the reasons for the non-activation of the decision of the Commercial Court of Casablanca to rent out the Samir storage bins in the State, Leila Benali, Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, responded with a flashback.
“I would like to remind the PJD parliamentary group that the decision to lease the storage tanks to the State was taken in 2020 before its cancellation in 2021, when the PJD was leading the Ministry of Energy and the government. “, she pointed out.
She specified, along the same lines, that a barrel of oil cost around 20 dollars in 2020, which led the government to seize the Commercial Court of Casablanca to allow the State to rent the storage tanks of the Samir.
After the court’s approval, the government instructed the National Office for Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM) to prepare the lease contract. However, following more than a year, on July 7, 2021, the judicial trustee had sent a letter to the government in order to activate the court’s decision, recalled the minister.
“It later turned out that the government reversed its decision, leading to its definitive cancellation by the court on November 23, 2021,” thundered Leila Benali.
The government official did not rule out the possibility of using Samir’s storage capacities. “If the price of oil on the international market drops to less than 20 dollars, the ministry will seize this opportunity and take advantage of Samir’s storage capacities,” she announced.
She then referred to the difficulties faced by the government in managing this file, which is characterized by “unprecedented complexity”, given the accumulation of problems and debts over more than 20 years, thus generating a shutdown of the Samir refinery.
“The ministry is currently examining a few scenarios with investors from neighboring countries who are interested in refining and who have expressed their desire to invest in the storage, processing and refining of petroleum products and green energy,” Leila said. Benali, without however giving more details.
For the Minister, it is necessary to find a lasting solution to the Samir file, far from “technical and political one-upmanship”. “We all know that we are facing fluctuations in international oil prices, this situation will not change and will last for the next century. It is therefore essential to set up a sustainable investment project for sustainable energies,” added the government official. For her, everything must be done to avoid “reopening the Samir and being forced to close it following two years”.
