Moroccan deepwater exploration this week got a much-needed shot in the arm with Eni taking a 40% operator’s stake in London-listed Chariot’s Rabat Deep offshore permits.

Eni has made much play of its key 2015 worldwide find, Egypt’s 23 tcf Zohr field, being the result of it extending its geological modeling based on carbonate formations to new regions. It is now to try its luck for the first time on the ‘Atlantic Margin’. This has already seen sizeable finds further south, off Ghana, Senegal and Mauritania (see below), but not yet – despite ten or so deepwater wells since 2013 – offshore Morocco. (CONTINUED - 794 WORDS)