Morocco allocates MAD 5 billion to increase storage of petroleum products

Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali stated that operators in the hydrocarbon sector will invest MAD 5 billion by the end of 2023 in order to increase storage capacity for petroleum products.

The minister stated in an interview with the press that actors in this sector will invest MAD 3 billion to increase the storage capacity of liquefied natural gas and butane gas, and MAD 2 billion to increase the storage capacity of diesel and gasoline.

According to Benali, these investments will provide an additional total storage capacity of 890,000 cubic meters, which will enable the increase of the national reserve stock to reach the level specified within 60 days of sales of petroleum companies in the national market, instead of about 1 month.

Official data indicates that the national consumption of petroleum products in 2021 amounted to about 11.2 million tons, in which Gasoil and butane gas represent 80%.

The national market is supplied by importing through different ports. The total storage capacity reaches about 1.6 million tons, which represents 52 days of total national consumption.

The minister said that Morocco is a non-oil-producing country, which makes it import all its hydrocarbon needs from abroad, and therefore is directly subject to the fluctuations of the global market, especially oil prices, which recorded their strongest rise since 2015, reaching on March 8, 127 dollars per barrel of Brent crude.

Benali attributed this increase to the pressure on the production and distribution chain, the soaring in shipping prices, and the rise in inflation in the US by 8.6%, and Europe by 7.5% for the period between March 2021 and March 2022.

“Among the factors affecting oil prices in the country, is the geopolitical crisis between Russia and Ukraine, in addition to the decline in long-term investments in this vital sector by about 30%,” She specified.