It is no longer a dream but a reality. Morocco would become a gas exporter in Africa, according to the forecasts of the American NGO “Global Energy Monitor” (GEM), highlighted in its new rapport titled “Gas Sector Evolution: Africa’s New Extraction Hubs”, released February 2023.
According to the report, Morocco will be among the gas producing countries. Its current reserves are regarding 39 billion cubic meters of gas. The boost was given by the identification of many new gas pre-production deposits.
According to the explanations provided by the GEM report, monitoring data shows that 84% of new reserves in development are located in new entrants to the gas market in Africa, including Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania, Mauritania, South Africa, Ethiopia or Morocco.
These countries might overtake Nigeria, Egypt, Libya and Algeria, which historically have the most proven gas reserves and production. These new reserves total over 5137.5 billion cubic meters, with potential emissions equivalent to approximately 11.9 billion tonnes of CO2, with production from many of these fields facing opposition due to potential impacts on ecosystems and local communities.
These countries are expected to drive gas development volumes in the near term, with “Mozambique, Mauritania, Tanzania, South Africa and Ethiopia accounting for more than half of Africa’s gas production by 2038”.
Mauritania has 574 billion cubic meters, part of which comes from joint reserves with Senegal, which are estimated at 566 billion cubic meters. Mozambique, Mauritania, Tanzania, South Africa and Ethiopia may in future account for more than half of Africa’s gas production by 2038.
The Global Oil and Gas ExtractionTracker (GOGET), the specialized branch of the American NGO in the identification of potential deposits in the four corners of the world, has data on 421 extraction projects, with 79 fields in the pre-production phase. .
Furthermore, GEM points out that if all these new gas field development projects are sanctioned, African gas production would increase by a third by 2030. Thus, the development of gas extraction and infrastructure to export would require a greenfield investment of $329 billion.