**Categories:** News, Oil **Tags:** Morocco, ONHYM, Viridien, oil exploration, seismic data **Excerpt:** The multi-client agreement between Viridien and ONHYM provides for new data and analyses of Moroccan sedimentary basins, onshore and offshore. It aims to better assess exploration potential and attract investors, without constituting a discovery or a drilling decision. **Slug:** maroc-viridien-onhym-donnees-exploration-hydrocarbures **Image alt:** Geophysical survey vessel off Morocco preparing a subsurface mapping campaign.
Morocco wants to improve knowledge of its sedimentary basins before committing new exploration investment. The Office national des hydrocarbures et des mines (ONHYM) and specialist company Viridien have concluded a multi-client collaboration agreement covering the production of subsurface data and advanced analyses. The program is intended to cover offshore and onshore areas that remain insufficiently documented.
Announced on October 7, 2026, the partnership combines the Moroccan agency's geoscientific knowledge with Viridien's imaging and data processing capabilities. Under a multi-client model, the information produced can be marketed to several companies interested in the same area. The aim is to share data acquisition and interpretation costs while offering investors a more detailed technical basis for risk assessment.
Reducing uncertainty before drilling
Oil exploration begins with identifying geological structures that may contain hydrocarbons. Seismic data and their interpretation make it possible to build subsurface models, identify areas of interest and better plan work. However, they do not directly reveal the presence of commercially viable reserves. Only drilling can confirm the nature of the formations and potentially recoverable volumes.
The agreement with Viridien therefore comes before the investment decision. It can help reduce some geological uncertainty, but guarantees neither a deposit discovery nor the launch of a drilling campaign. Data quality, coverage, currency and interpretation assumptions will determine its commercial usefulness.
For ONHYM, the challenge is also to make better use of public information that can attract partners. Better basin mapping makes it possible to present more comparable prospects to international companies and prepare discussions about permits. The multi-client model can broaden data access, provided the terms governing access, updates and revenue sharing are clearly defined.
A selective exploration market
Oil groups allocate their budgets across several regions and favor projects where potential resource size, costs, taxation and operating conditions offer competitive returns. Morocco can highlight its geographical position, port infrastructure and links with European markets. However, these advantages do not replace geological and commercial evidence.
Competition also concerns data quality. Investors want reliable, integrated information detailed enough to develop scenarios. If data are fragmented or difficult to compare, companies may delay their decisions or favor better-known basins. The collaboration between ONHYM and Viridien seeks to address this obstacle by establishing an integrated technical offering.
The partnership's success will therefore be measured against verifiable results: completed data campaigns, studies made available, concrete operator interest and possible exploration commitments. The number of maps produced or cooperation announcements will not be sufficient to demonstrate that an investment cycle has been restarted.
Benefits that depend on the national framework
More active exploration can generate contracts for local companies, specialized jobs and revenues if it leads to discoveries and then developed projects. However, these effects remain gradual. Several years may pass between subsurface studies, drilling campaigns, discovery evaluation and possible production. A discovery may also be unprofitable or fail to meet environmental and financial criteria.
The authorities will therefore need to combine data promotion with a policy of transparency on permits, work obligations and operator commitments. Predictable rules can encourage companies to invest over several years. Conversely, uncertain timetables and information that is difficult to access reduce the program's appeal.
Finally, the agreement highlights the importance of skills transfer. National teams can benefit from processing methods, interpretation and data management if the cooperation provides for effective sharing of expertise. This dimension can strengthen local capabilities beyond the duration of a single contract.
The Viridien–ONHYM partnership thus represents a preparatory step for Morocco's oil potential. It improves the technical tools needed for exploration, but economic value will depend on operator interest, the quality of results and the ability to convert data into work programs. For Morocco, the next indicator will be less the signing of an agreement than the actual mobilization of capital and partners around the basins studied.