Kiosk360. The National Front for the Protection of the Samir Refinery (FNSS) and the National Union of Petroleum and Gas Industries are stepping up to dismantle the arguments of the government spokesperson advocating for the closure of the Samir. This article is a press review taken from the daily L’Economiste.
During his speech on Saturday, September 10 in Agadir, on the occasion of the 4th edition of the Summer University of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), Mustapha Baïtas, member of the political bureau of this party and spokesperson for the government, was adamant. Faced with voices calling for a restart of the Samir, he simply said “niet”. “It’s not the only solution, but part of the solution,” he said. Samir could certainly solve a certain number of problems (storage, refining…) but, Morocco not being a country producing hydrocarbons, the lack will persist.
Added to this are a number of prerequisites that are impossible to fulfill. The refinery’s indebtedness stands at 40 billion dirhams, according to Baitas. Its relaunch also presupposes new investments for installations, the upgrading of equipment and the modernization of production tools. The amount of these investments is estimated at 12 billion dirhams, the minister said, among other arguments.
The unions do not hear it that way. The FNSS and the National Union of Petroleum and Gas Industries have thus stepped up to dismantle the arguments of the government spokesperson. “Untruths, demagoguery against a background of corporate lobbying and political one-upmanship…”, reacted the FNSS, quoted by The Economist in its edition of Thursday, September 15.
“To hear him dismiss the Samir reactivation scenario, the spokesperson demonstrates that he completely ignores the foundations of the judicial liquidation procedure as well as the achievements, socio-economic issues and benefits proven by the refineries these days. ci in terms of storage capacity, refining, energy security, sovereignty of countries… Or even the effects in terms of reducing the cost of the energy bill and the prices of petroleum products”, indicates, for his part, El Houssine El Yamani, Secretary General of the National Syndicate of Petroleum Industries (CDT). And to specify that the real debt of the Samir amounts to 95 billion dirhams (and not 40 billion). Its restart will also require some 200 million dirhams. For him, the game is worth the candle. And for good reason, refining margins are exploding. “The cost of refining has gone from 30 cents to 3 dirhams per litre. In other words, if the liter of diesel is at 15 DH, it means that the surplus is 3 DH per litre”, he underlines.
However, the Samir still does not find a buyer. The trade unionist points out that 4 to 5 offers from foreign groups are on the table. But, “the State does not give sufficient guarantees on the investment agreement”, specifies The Economist, citing an expert familiar with the matter.