Africa-focused transitional energy group, Chariot Limited, has signed an agreement with Vivo Energy regarding the potential future marketing of natural gas from its Loukos Onshore license in Morocco. In a press release sent Monday to Yabiladi, Chariot (which holds 75% of Loukos, with Morocco's ONHYM holding the remaining 25%) stated that this agreement defines the next steps for implementing a gas-to-industry business. This will involve supplying domestic gas and establishing a midstream Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) partnership to meet the growing energy needs of Moroccan industry. Chariot has recently completed its first drilling campaign on the Loukos license and is currently planning flow testing operations for the OBA-1 well. Loukos has additional gas resources at existing undeveloped sites and an attractive exploration portfolio representing additional production potential, according to Chariot. The agreement with Vivo Energy, which operates a network of over 400 service stations in Morocco, outlines plans to sell initial volumes of up to 3 million standard cubic feet per day (or approximately 30 million cubic meters per year) to the dedicated CNG marketing entity under a long-term gas sales agreement from Loukos' future potential production. Vivo Energy intends to design, finance, construct, and operate a CNG plant and distribution network to transport gas in CNG form from various sources to existing and new industrial customers in Morocco. This CNG business would be operated and developed by a dedicated entity in which Chariot could hold up to a 49% stake. «This agreement offers the opportunity for rapid commercialization of Loukos' future production and opens the way for the development of both pre-existing gas fields and the OBA-1 well, as well as organic growth through future exploration», said Pierre Raillard, Managing Director of Chariot Morocco. «This project will be piloted in coordination with our upstream partner, ONHYM, and will initially focus on existing markets. It will also make it possible to leverage our gas production to support the wider development of the infrastructure needed for Vivo Energy's CNG conditioning and transportation», he added. «Natural gas is a key component of the energy equation to decarbonize Morocco, as defined by His Majesty the King. This project is fully in line with this ambition and meets the needs expressed by Moroccan industrial players», concluded Matthias de Larminat, Managing Director of Vivo Energy Morocco.
