The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation has publicly acknowledged to the Group of Senators of the Canarian Coalition (CC) that oil exploration is part of the working agenda of the Spanish-Moroccan group that negotiates the delimitation of maritime spaces on the Atlantic facade.
Through a written response, the State Government confirmed that in the last meeting held between both parties "views were exchanged on the definition of a common space for cooperation and on the issue of the delimitation of maritime spaces, addressing, among other issues, the exploration of hydrocarbons."
However, in the response to the nationalist senators, it does not provide concrete data on the content of the negotiations with Morocco. While the State Government keeps the hydrocarbon investigation requested by the company Repsol paralyzed, the Kingdom of Morocco has recently granted new licenses to companies of different nationalities for carrying out oil exploration not far from the Canary Islands coasts.
The last of them to a Malaysian company last May, as recognized in a news item published by the Moroccan agency MAP. The agreement, signed with the Malaysian oil and gas exploration and production company "Genting Oil & Gas Ltd", concerns the "Raso Juby" area (Tarfaya region). Under this agreement, Genting undertakes to carry out a 3D seismic campaign during the initial period of validity, lasting 2 years. The CC senators will request information on the negotiations with Morocco next September.
