Jordan Times
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
International firms express interest to prospect for oil
AMMAN (JT) — Jordan plans to invite international
oil firms to prospect for oil in the Kingdom's areas of Safawi, the northern
heights, Al Azraq, Wadi Sarhan and Jafer, according to a senior official at the
Natural Resources Authority (NRA).
Munther Akroush, NRA's assistant director general for information and
investment, said four companies from the USA, Croatia and Russia have already
approached Jordan expressing interest in exploring for oil in these areas.
In cooperation with foreign firms that prospected for oil and gas in the
Kingdom, NRA has accumulated detailed studies on 33,000-kilometre-length of
seismological tests in the course of prospecting for oil over the past decades,
Akroush pointed out. The accumulated information about earlier explorations will
be supplied free to the companies that will be awarded tenders to search for
oil, he added.
Last October, an Australian oil company conducted a comprehensive study of NRA's
information about Wadi Sarhan, one of the five targeted regions in preparation
for exploration for oil and gas.
The Melbourne-based NFG Development of Australia, which was granted the right to
start evaluating the NRA's accumulated oil-related information, is planning to
dig wells.
Earlier attempts by US and European oil companies to dig for oil in Jordan over
the past few years ended without promising results.
According to Akroush, the government is adopting production profits-sharing
policy to encourage firms to pursue exploration work.
The NRA plans to carry out promotional campaigns locally and abroad to attract
firms to Jordan noting that the Natural Petroleum Company and an American firm
are conducting search at the Dead Sea and at Al Risheh areas.
He said Al Risheh gas field near the Iraqi border with Iraq currently produces
30 million cubic feet of gas daily used in generating electricity at a local
plant.
Akroush said last year 10.2 billion cubic feet of gas was produced at the Risheh
field but, for technical reasons, it could not be used for gas cylinders. Asked
about exploiting the huge amounts of oil shale in Jordan to produce oil on
commercial basis, Akroush indicated that technical and financial reasons stand
in the way of carrying out such a scheme.
Akroush estimated the quantity of shale, which abounds in the central and
southern parts of Jordan, at 40 billion tonnes.
He noted that shale can partly be found near the surface but is generally
believed to be far underneath the ground surface, reaching 70 metres in some
areas.
Some estimates put the potential amounts of oil that can be extracted from the
shale at 30 billion barrels.
According to Akroush, the fluctuating oil prices on international markets, lack
of sufficient funds to be invested in shale oil production and Jordan's
geographical location among major oil producing countries are among the reasons
behind the lack of investments in the mineral.
He said the cost of extracting a single barrel of oil from shale ranges between
$12 and $20 at a time when the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting countries
(OPEC) is maintaining a barrel's price at $25.
Reserves of oil shale exist in Lajjoun, Jurf Darawish, Wadi Maghar, Thamad and
Sultani, he pointed out noting that the oil is currently extracted from shale in
Estonia, Brazil, China and Australia. Akroush said the NRA is ready to conclude
lucrative deals by ensuring the sale of the produced oil and offering very
attractive terms that would enable companies to regain their costs in the
shortest possible period of time.