The Israeli company Ratio Petroleum confirmed this Thursday to Efe the existence of an agreement with the Moroccan Ministry of Energy to exclusively explore the controversial waters of Western Sahara.
"Ratio Petroleum's entry into Morocco has been made possible thanks to the Abraham Accords and represents the first business collaboration between an Israeli association and the Moroccan Government in the energy sector," the company said in a statement on the project developed in Dakhla, in the south of this territory administered by Morocco.
For Ratio Pretroleum, the current agreement represents "a strategic move to enter an area of great geological potential" to identify basins of significant potential, such as hydrocarbons or gas.
The so-called "Dajla Atlántico" block is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, its total area exceeds 109,000 square kilometers and up to 3,000 meters deep and Ratio Petroleum "will have 100% of the shares in the Block and will act as operator, during the term of the agreement".
The development of the Port of Dakhla is in turn one of the flagship projects of the Moroccan monarchy located in the conflictive area.
Israel and Morocco formalized relations on December 22, 2020, a few days after the US Administration of Donald Trump recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Both countries have advanced in trade agreements and have established liaison offices, although so far only the one in Rabat has been physically inaugurated, during the visit in August of the Israeli Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid.
The well-known Abraham Accords, promoted by the Trump Administration, have led to the normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab countries, so far the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in addition to an agreement in principle with Sudan, still to be formalized.
