LNG giant Shell has signed a 12-year deal to supply liquefied natural gas to Morocco.
According to a statement by Morocco’s energy transition and sustainable development ministry, Shell International Trading Middle East will supply LNG to Morocco’s electricity and water utility, ONEE, under the deal.
ONEE will buy 0.5 billion cubic meters of LNG from Shell, the statement said.
Mehdi Chennoufi, head of global origination, Shell LNG marketing and trading, and Abderrahim El Hafidi, general director of Morocco’s electricity and water utility, ONEE, signed the deal in Marrakesh on July 14.
During the first years of the contract, Shell will supply LNG through Spanish terminals and ship it to Morocco via the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline.
After that, the fuel will be delivered via Moroccan LNG terminals.
This deal will help boost Morocco’s energy security, improve competitiveness, and accelerate the implementation of the national decarbonization strategy, the statement said.
ONEE is looking to boost the share of gas in Morocco’s electricity mix and has more than 2 GW of gas-fired power plants under development, the ministry said.
Chennoufi said in the statement that this is ONEE’s first LNG supply deal after the firm completed “several” purchases of spot LNG in 2022.
The ministry did not provide any additional information regarding plans for LNG terminals in Morocco.
Morocco currently has no LNG import terminals but there were plans previously for an FSRU-based import facility.
