Page 12 - MEOG Week 04 2023

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

Jordan signs deal for oil shale development

JORDAN JORDAN’S Ministry of Energy and Mineral At an estimated 40-70bn tonnes, Jordan’s oil
Resources (MEMR) this week signed a memo- shale deposits are the eighth largest in the world
randum of understanding (MoU) with a local and may underlie over 60% of the country’s
firm for the development of oil shale in the centre territory, with Kharabsheh’s predecessor Hala
of the country. Zawati having spoken for several years of plans
A press release issued by the MEMR said that to achieve production of 25,000 barrels per day
the agreement had been signed with Al-Ma- (bpd).
jarrah for Oil Shale and Natural Resources Co. Its most significant deposits thus far have
covering exploitation of a 15-square km area in been located in 26 different locations around the
El-Lajjun. country, with the nine most important of these
The deal was signed by MEMR head Saleh situated in the west-central region of the King-
Kharabsheh and Al-Majarrah director-general dom. These are; Sultani, Attarat Umm Ghudran,
Imad Fakhoury in the presence of a number of Wadi Maghar, Khan Az Zabib, Jurf Ed Darawish,
ministry officials and Al-Majarrah chairman Siwaqa, El Hasa, Eth Hamad and El-Lajjun.
Louie Oumeish and board members. Under Jordan’s National Energy Strategy
Following the signing, Kharabsheh empha- 2007-2030, several MoUs have been signed for
sised the deal’s significance and noted that “the the above-ground processing of oil shale and
ministry is placing a particular emphasis on one for conversion processing in-situ conversion
mineral resources because of the role they play in processing.
creating economic value and increasing employ- The first of these came in November 2006 was
ment opportunities in the exploration and min- with another Estonian firm – Eesti Energia – for
ing sectors”. the exclusive rights to study around a third of the
He urged Al-Majarrah to work quickly to resources of the El Lajjun deposit.
generate results that can be leveraged for the In August 2009, a concession agreement was
project’s subsequent phases. Under the terms of signed granting the Jordan Oil Shale Co. (owned
the agreement, the company will carry out a two- by Shell) exclusive rights for deep oil shale explo-
year exploration programme, following which it ration covering an area of 22,270 square km
will present MEMR with an economic feasibility throughout the Kingdom.
report for oil retorting using oil shale. Meanwhile, the APCO plant is expected to
Fakhoury disclosed that his company would consume around 10mn tonnes per year of oil
work together with Estonia’s Enefit, which holds shale, which can be burned directly for electric-
a 10% stake in the Attarat Power Co. (APCO) ity generation. The state-owned China Energy
which launched the first of two 235-MW units Engineering Corp. (CEEC) is the engineering,
at the Kingdom’s flagship shale-fired power plant procurement and construction (EPC) contrac-
in 2021. tor for the JV in which Enefit is joined by Malay-
He added that a production-sharing agree- sia’s YTL Power International (45%) and China’s
ment (PSA) is expected to be signed following Guangdong Yudean Group (45%).
the establishment of feasibility. The $2.1bn project includes an open cast
With imports catering to more than 90% of mine and will generate 3.7bn kWh, enough
the Hashemite kingdom’s energy demand, there to cater to almost 20% of Jordan’s electricity
is significant motivation for the exploration demand, supplying the National Electric Power
effort, while renewables and Jordan’s large oil Co. (NEPCO) under a 30-year power purchase
shale reserves are also expected to contribute. agreement (PPA).™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 04 25•January•2023