Announcement of Morocco to Study Oil Shale Technology with Twenty Million Dollars World Bank Loan on March 29, 1982

' () ~ FiOR IMMEDIA!E RELEASE _ 1 ,,•World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W:', Washington) D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 82/66 Contact: Melhem Salman March 29, 198?-, / (202} 477-5328 MOROCCO TO STUDY OIL SHALE TECHNOLOGY WITH $20 MILLION WORLD BANK LOAN ·'J Morocco wi11 assess possible development of large oil shale d-eposits in Timahdit, Central Plateau Region, with the help of a $20 .-;:, million loan from the World Bank .. . ~. The government wi11 rely on information from the $25.7 million bJJ Shale Engineering Project to decide whether to proceed with plans to exploit the shale deposits. An increase in local energy production is vital to the country as it is almost totally dependent on energy imports at present. The project will develop in interdependent stages. A test station, which will use a locally developed surface retorting process, will be built in Timahdit to provide extensive analysis of the shale, to generate sufficient samples for·an initial examination of oil upgrading requirements, and to give practical training to Moroccan engineers and technicians in the construction and operation of a retorting plant. A ·te.~hn i~aJ :eva 1uat ion of retorting processes examining such aspects as oil yield, quality of oil produced, energy efficiency, retorting rate, and water consumption will use results from the test station as well as data gathered world-wide to assess-which processes shou 1d be considered further. , ~ feasibility study will then provide a comprehensive analysis of different commercial operations for production of oil from shale. The study will analyze the shale mining procedure by reviewing geologi&al data and estimating the environmental impact of spent shale deposit and eventual land reclamation. The second part of the study will involve detailed planning for the retorting plant and related infrastructure. Finally, results from the feasibility study on shale oil production and from a study on direct combustion production, prepared by the National Electricity Office, will be compared to investigate the impact of each on reducing oil imports. Related costs a 1 risks wi 11 also be assessed& ~,~ Estimated implementation time for the project is four years and the planned completion date is March 1986. The implementing agency is: Office National de Recherches et d'Exploitations Pefr61tlres, (ONAREP), 6 Ave~de France, Rabat, Morocco. ' .... , t, The World Bank Loan is for 17 years including four years of grace, at an interest rate of 11.6% per annum • • NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.