A Canadian delegation is due in Amman on May 13 to follow up on negotiations on an oil shale exploitation deal in the kingdom, said Jordan’s Minister of Energy Wael Sabri.
Sabri said that the delegation from Suncor Energy will hold talks with senior Jordanian officials on legal and administrative aspects of the projected contract, the Jordan Times quoted him as saying.
Jordan and Canada, he noted, are to sign a contract for exploiting the oil shale through “filtration” towards the end of this year.
The minister also cited the success of Suncor's pilot project in Australia.
Late last year, the Canadian company was granted a 12-month exclusivity period to negotiate a project for extracting and developing oil shale reserves in the Lejun area, south of the country.
Proven reserves of oil shale in oil-poor Jordan, are estimated at 40 billion tons, said the paper.
The first phase of the project is expected to be finalized by 2007 at an estimated cost of $400 million, the minister told the paper.
Once the project is underway, the initial production capacity is expected to reach 17,000 barrels a day, or 14 percent of the local oil requirements, set now at 5 million tons per year – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
