The Moroccan company Mya Energy has signed an agreement with the Russian bank VEB to finance and a build a new refinery in the Kingdom of Morocco. The facility will have an initial capacity of 100,000 barrels per day though once fully functional and upon completion of all works, it will process 200,000 barrels per day.
US $2bn refinery
The financing and construction agreement was signed by Youssef El Alaoui, Mya Energy’s CEO, Daniil Algulyan, Bank President, and Nikita Gusakov, Vice President of the Russian Export Center. Under the terms of the agreement, the Russian side will inject US $2bn into the project, which will then be executed by Russian companies. Mya Energy officials said they wanted to benefit from the experience of Russian companies in this area.
Although no specific timeframe has been announced for the implementation of the project, sources close to Mya Energy indicated that constructions works are slated to start early next year once the environmental impact assessment has been concluded.
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Regional development
According to Mya Energy, the refinery facility will pave the way for direct and indirect employment opportunities that will help reduce unemployment. Several thousands direct and indirect jobs are planned to be created within this framework.
The new facility will not only accelerate economic development in Morocco but also other neighboring countries that will benefit from reduced costs of importing petroleum products. Both parties are expected to be giving out frequent updates on the project progress.
The installation of a new refinery in the country, is expected to revive the domestic industry of petroleum products and allow the reduce of currencies allocated to the import of energy. The only local refinery, SAMIR remains closed since 2015 due to financial difficulties related to heavy debts and poor management.
