Morocco has officially entered the international liquefied natural gas (LNG) market, Energy Minister Leila Benali reveled on Friday.
She told a press conference in Rabat that this is the first time the Kingdom resorts to LNG to secure its energy needs.
Benali said that Morocco has agreed with Spain and other European countries to use their “untapped” infrastructure to convert liquefied gas into natural gas and then transfer it through the Maghreb-Europe pipeline.
Morocco relied for much of its gas needs on a pipeline that used to channel Algerian gas to Spain, until it was halted last October by Algiers, against the backdrop of the crisis between Rabat and Algiers.
The pipeline will enable the transfer of natural gas from Spain to Morocco to be used for generating electric power and for industrial purposes.
The Minister did not reveal the cost of buying the LNG and converting it into natural gas, but she said that companies working in this field will acquire it from the international market.
She revealed that Morocco is studying options at several ports to build a floating or land-based facility to import LNG.
“Whether floating or onshore, studies are underway to choose the “most immediate solution,” Benali told reporters.
