Morocco upper house rejects state takeover plan for idle Samir refinery

Morocco’s governing majority in the House of Councillors voted on June 16 against a proposed law transferring the assets of the shuttered Samir oil refinery to the state, reviving debate over whether public ownership could restore the country’s only refining facility,

The Mohammedia refinery has remained out of operation while its assets are offered for sale through court-supervised proceedings, leaving Morocco dependent on imported refined fuels and exposing the country more directly to international supply and price shocks.

Supporters of state intervention argue that acquiring the assets would not amount to traditional nationalization because public institutions already hold most of the company’s debt.

Abdelghani Raqi, secretary-general of the National Front for the Rescue of the Moroccan Petroleum Refinery, told Hespress that state bodies account for about 82% of Samir’s creditors.

That position, he said, could allow the government to convert much of the money owed to public institutions into ownership of the refinery’s assets, leaving the state to settle only the remaining share held by other creditors.

“The discussion is not about nationalization, but about transferring the assets to the state,” Raqi said, describing the proposal as a legal and financial transaction grounded in the structure of the company’s debt.

Several investors have previously expressed interest in acquiring Samir, but no sale has been completed. Raqi said state ownership would offer a lower-cost route to preserving an industrial asset tied to energy security.

He argued that domestic refining could reduce Morocco’s exposure to the cost of imported refined products, including refining margins that he estimated could add two dirhams or more to each liter of fuel.

Economist Idriss El Fina supported a different model involving temporary nationalization. He told Hespress that the state could first take control, rehabilitate the refinery and improve its management before gradually reopening part of its capital to private investors.

El Fina said governments in the United States, France and elsewhere in Europe had expanded their role in strategic sectors after private operators failed to guarantee continuity or stability.

He cautioned, however, that any government intervention would have to account for ongoing judicial and arbitration proceedings and review whether the refinery’s former private owner complied with its contractual obligations.

Samir was privatized in the 1990s and halted production in 2015 after accumulating heavy debts, including substantial liabilities to Morocco’s customs administration.