CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Morocco to drill 30 oil and gas wells this year

(Corrected to show Cairn Energy has started drilling, paragraph8)

By Aziz El Yaakoubi

MARRAKESH, Morocco, April 29 (Reuters) - Morocco will drill30 oil and gas wells in 2014 as part of the North Africankingdom's planned expansion of exploration, its energy ministersaid on Tuesday.

Morocco has awarded dozens of permits to oil companies inthe past few years, helped by its relative stability comparedwith other North African countries and by increasing indicationsof potential offshore and onshore reserves.

The country is also preparing a draft law on the miningindustry to ease bureaucracy and attract more investments,Energy and Mines minister Abdelkader Amara said.

"We are stepping up our searches. The more we drill, themore we get closer to the discoveries," Amara told Reuters onthe sidelines of an energy conference.

"Since Moroccan independence (in 1956), we drilled only 300wells. And in 2014 alone we are planning 30 wells."

Morocco has attracted companies such as Chevron,Cairn Energy and BP, which are benefiting fromfavourable contracts awarded by the Moroccan Office ofHydrocarbons and Mining (ONHYM).

BP is the latest oil major to enter Morocco, announcing adeal with Kosmos Energy this week to take a share inthree offshore blocks. Drilling will begin later this year.

Cairn Energy said earlier that it has began drilling at itssecond well off the Moroccan coast.

They follow U.S. major Chevron, which said in January thatit had taken up three offshore blocks.

Excitement over Morocco's potential has grown as technologyhas helped firms to discover new oil and gas fields over thepast decade in regions that were formerly overlooked.

"We are trying to market the Moroccan destination for oilexploration and until now we have succeeded to attractinvestments for the most important regions," Amara said. (Editing by Patrick Markey and David Goodman)