Oil Firms Step Up Exploration in Morocco's Atlantic Waters

Such a strategy has been employed by Norway, a major energy exporter that uses dams to generate hydropower and provide most of its electricity.

Funds from the Middle East, Europe and the World Bank are being invested in projects such as the world's largest concentrated solar power plant in Ouarzazate, in eastern Morocco.

"The plant is part of the Moroccan government's Solar Plan ... This replaces the high-carbon, coal-fired electricity of the past and will create a new source of income for Morocco, as the plan calls for export of solar electricity to markets in Europe," the World Bank said.

But there are potential pitfalls for those oil firms whose blocks fall in the disputed waters off the Western Sahara to the south of Morocco.

This tract of desert, home to phosphate deposits and potential offshore energy reserves, has been the focus of Africa's longest-running territorial dispute, pitting the Moroccan government against the Polisario Front independence movement backed by Algeria.

Campaigners set up Western Sahara Resource Watch over a decade ago after Morocco awarded its first exploration licenses in disputed waters. WSRW says it wants oil firms to comply with a U.N. legal opinion from 2002 that calls for activities to respect the wishes and interests of the Western Sahara people.

It has in the past appealed to shareholders of firms operating in disputed areas to divest or halt exploration.