ONHYM Opens New Offshore Block for Hydrocarbon Exploration

ONHYM has succeeded in promoting a new hydrocarbon exploration block off the Atlantic coast, between Assilah and north of Kenitra.

An oil agreement was signed on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, in the presence of Amina Benkhadra, Director General of ONHYM, and Christopher C. Olson, Vice President of Murphy Oil Corporation, granting the exploration permit as stipulated by Chapter III of the Hydrocarbons Code.

Covering an area of 16,989.9 km², the offshore block open for exploration consists of ten permits and is located west of the Rissana and Lixus blocks, held by the British company Chariot Energy.

In addition to its proximity to the Anchois gas field, with estimated resources of 18 billion cubic meters of natural gas, this new exploration area borders offshore the Rissana block with strong potential for additional gas resources. This prospectivity is also supported by geological continuity onshore, represented by the SDX Energy gas fields and further north by the Chariot discoveries in the Loukos license.

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, U.S. company Murphy Oil Corporation has a significant portfolio of hydrocarbon production in the United States and Canada. In 2024, its production totaled 177,000 boe/d (barrels of oil equivalent per day), with mainly gas in its onshore fields and oil in its offshore permits.

In Africa, Murphy Oil released the results of an exploration well drilled in its offshore exploration block in Ivory Coast. Although it yielded oil quantities, they were deemed insufficient for commercial production.

However, the company believes that these results, while negative, confirm the presence of an active oil system and plans to refine its analysis to identify a producing target in Ivory Coast.

In the midst of the legislative process, ONHYM’s transformation into a public limited company is expected to give this strategic institution new momentum. The future entity will operate under the supervision of the National Agency for Strategic Management of State Holdings (ANGSPE), with the aim of establishing efficient governance capable of stimulating exploration and exploitation of mineral and oil resources.