The proposed loan will support Morocco's efforts to reduce its heavy dependency on imported petroleum products. The project would help ...TransAtlantic agreed to farm-in to the Ouezzane-Tissa and Asilahexploration permits held by Direct Petroleum Morocco and Anschutz Morocco ...History of Petroleum exploration periods in morocco.Maghreb Petroleum Exploration S.A. (MPE): a Moroccan company carrying outpetroleum exploration and production activities on- and offshore Morocco. ...The Company will carry out regional geological studies, seismic acquisition and reprocessing, followed by exploratory drilling. Both conventional and unconventional oil plays have been identified on the acreage. Two wells previously drilled on the Block encountered numerous hydrocarbon shows in the Devonian shale section. The Doukkala Block represents East West's first operated program. The Company is reviewing other opportunities in the country.
Mr. Greg Renwick, President and CEO, commented "the Doukkala Block award represents the Company's first entry intoMorocco and we look forward to working with our new partner ONHYM in pursuing both conventional and unconventional resource plays. ONHYM is a knowledgeable partner which brings many years of experience working in this area"
Mr. Wak Kani, Advisory Board Member of Company commented "Previous drilling on the Doukkala Block demonstrates the presence of hydrocarbon shows in a thick Devonian shale section over a depth range of 1500 to 3000 meters. The Devonian section in Doukkala is of similar age and geology to the emerging unconventional Marcellus shale play in the eastern US."Morocco has been attracting more industry attention recently due to the presence of a number of basins which demonstrate the potential to contain unconventional shale resource plays. Recently, companies such as Anadarko and EOG have taken positions in the country. The fiscal terms offered by the Government of Morocco rank amongst the best in the world.
ABOUT EAST WEST PETROLEUM CORP.
East West Petroleum Corp. trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "EW". East West is an emerging exploration and production company focused on conventional and unconventional petroleum resources.
The First Period between 1900 and 1928, was largely undertaken by the Compagnie Francaise des Petroles (CFP) and focused around in the Rharb Basin around oil seeps and geomorphological features. The fields were put onstream in the 1930′s and production averaged around 100 bo/d, peaking around 2400 bo/d in 1954. CFP discovered the Ain Hamra oil pool in 1923, which has a Late Miocene and Pliocene clastic reservoir in a sequences of thrusted sand lenses and produced a total of 90,000 barrels of oil.
The creation of the BRPM (Bureau de Recherchés et d‘Exploitations Minière) in 1928, signified the start of the Second Period of Petroleum Exploration from 1928 to 1958. The BRPM was tasked with developing the mining industry, which included the exploration of hydrocarbons, through Elf Erap and Compagnie Française des Pétroles (which later became Total CFP). In 1929, BRPM created Société Cherifienne des Petroles (SCP), which was specifically tasked to explore for oil and gas. The earliest seismic reflection techniques were used in the Rharb and Prerif basins in 1935. Although there was no significant exploration during WWII ,between 1939 and 1945, the “Société des Schistes Bitumineux de Tanger” developed and operated a 80 tons per day oil shale pilot plant in the Upper Cretaceous Tangier oil shales, in Northern Morocco.
The first seismic surveys in the Essaouira, Souss and Guercif basins were shot in 1955. Oil and Gas discoveries were made in the Prerif Ridges and in the Sidi Fili trend and around production rose from around 100 bo/d in 1939 to 2,400 bo/d by 1954. The first natural gas was discovered in the Essaouira Basin at Kechoula and Djebel Jeer in 1957 and 1958 respectively.
The 1958 Hydrocarbon Law enable foreign company participation on 50:50 profit share basis with the BRPM. The new terms successfully attracted foreign investors and by 1968 Agip, Apex, Elf-Erap, Exxon and Preussag were exploring for oil in most of the basins. In the 1970s over forty companies had held exploration licences in Morocco and more than 176 wells were drilled in most basins, through the period. Fifteen commercial oil and gas accumulations fields were discovered, including Morocco’s largest discovery at Sidi Rhalem (1961) in the Essaouira Basin and Exxon discovered Morocco’s only offshore field, Ras Juby (1969). By the end of 1981, cumulative production was 9 million barrels of oil and 35 BCF of gas and most of the new entrants had withdrawn from the country due to a lack of exploration success.
The Office National de Recherches et d’Exploitations Pétrolières (ONAREP) was created by the Moroccan government in 1981, with a mandate to explore for hydrocarbons in Morocco both by itself and jointly with foreign petroleum companies. Between 1981 and 1990, ONAREP drilled 85 wells with50 drilled jointly with international companies. This activity led to the discovery of the country’s largest gas field at Meskala in the Essaouira Basin in 1981 as well as several biogenic gas accumulations in the Rharb Basin. Fourteen companies were awarded 23 exploration licences during this period, but by 1993 they had relinquished all the licences.
In 1992, the government promulgated a new hydrocarbon law and in 1994, ONAREP promoted three exploration areas: the Inter Atlas region in the northeast, the Doukkala Basin along the Atlantic coast south of Casablanca and the offshore Tarfaya-Infi Basin. Between 1997 and 1999, foreign companies signed 16 exploration licences and four (Conoco Enterprise, Lasmo and Shell) signed offshore reconnaissance licences. Sixteen exploration and appraisal wells were drilled in Morocco between 1990 and 2000, fifteen were drilled onshore, which led to the discovery of three gas fields: Lalla Yto (1991), Ouled Brih (1992) and Zhana (1998). One well was drilled offshore (Tarfaya 1. 1990), was offshore plugged and abandoned dry.
The Hydrocarbon Law was amended in 2000 providing Oil and Gas investors with more attractive fiscal terms. In 2003, ONHYM was created as a merger of ONAREP and BRPM, beginning a new era with a dynamic strategy and improved synergy to adequately assess both the Hydrocarbon and Mining Potential of Morocco. The countery is still perceived as being underexplored in terms of petroleum exploration, with a comparatively low number of exploration wells in each basin. The number of exploration concepts tested has been very limited and many of the wells that were drilled did not reach their objectives because they were either drilled off structure, or encountered technical problems.
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