The Moroccan oil refiner Samir has begun implementing its facility modernization plan. The company, which is owned by the Saudi-controlled, Sweden-based firm Corral Group, hired a Turkish-Italian engineering firm and will spend MAD 6.75 billion in the process.
The investment is part of an agreement signed between the company and the Moroccan government. Morocco is to grant Samir additional protection measures so as to remain a monopoly for the time being. In exchange for protection against competition, Samir's owners will invest in upgrading the facilities.
The engineering work will be handled by the Italian Snamprogetti and the Turkish Tekfen, which formed a consortium to work on this project. Supervision of the work was assigned to the Italian subsidiary of the American Foster Wheeler.
Of the MAD 6.75 billion committed to this project, MAD 700 million have already been invested in water treatment facilities, power supply, and the basic work for the preparation of the site.
Samir will invest MAD 2.7 billion of its own money, while local banks will provide MAD 2 billion in loans and foreign banks will finance $240 million. The African Development Bank will contribute to finance $85 million.
The work is scheduled to be completed in 36 months, consisting of building new industrial units for crude oil treatment and conversion. These units will be added to the existing facilities in the Mohammedia site, to form a larger scale refinery, with added security and norms equal to international standards. The economic impact will be on securing higher volumes and supply of refined products to the Moroccan economy, while creating 120 jobs.
© The North Africa Journal 2005
