Calls rise to reactivate Morocco’s only refinery as oil prices soar

Activists and opposition parties are calling for Morocco’s SAMIR oil plant to be brought back online after a seven-year hiatus to alleviate fossil fuel import pressure and enhance energy sovereignty.
Morocco refinery
Morocco's sole oil refinery in Mohammedia, near Casablanca, on June 22, 2019. Three years after it was liquidated for racking up billions of euros worth of debt, Morocco's sole oil refinery and one-time economic flagship is struggling to attract a buyer and survive. - AFP via Getty Images)\
Noureddine Radouai
Noureddine Radouai
@radouai 

Morocco currently imports 90% of its energy, and rising fossil fuel prices are increasing the calls to reopen the kingdom’s sole oil refinery.

The Société Anonyme Marocaine de l’Industrie du Raffinage (SAMIR) opened in 1959 as a joint venture between the Moroccan state and Italian energy giant ENI.

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