Senate energy committee briefed on oil, gas reserves, prospects in Jordan

AMMAN - The Senate's Energy and Mineral Resources Committee reviewed the oil and gas reserves and prospects and reality of the Kingdom's energy sector, according to Jordan News Agency, Petra.اضافة اعلان

During a committee meeting on Thursday, its head Saleh Irsheidat, said the Kingdom is an importer of energy products , which increase the ratio of imported energy to the gross domestic product (GDP), and leads to "remarkable" pressure on the balance of payments and the constant need for foreign currencies to fund purchasing the Kingdom’s energy needs.

This situation, Irsheidat noted, calls for the need to harness capabilities and expand oil, gas exploration operations in the Kingdom.

Irsheidat added that the Russian-Ukrainian war will "inevitably" affect the oil and gas prices across the world.

As a country that imports gas and oil derivatives, Jordan could be be affected by price hikes, as the Kingdom has long-term gas supply contracts that mitigate the negative effects of high prices, especially gas, he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Director General of the National Petroleum Company (NPC), Mohammad Khasawneh, said there is evidence for oil and gas reserves in Hamza, Al-Rishah and Al-Sarhan fields, adding that NPC has processed and studied two- and three-dimensional seismic surveys related to the Sarhan field.

The NPC has "productive data and proven oil evidence in the Sarhan field and the quality of the oil is very excellent. The crude is the light and has high-value qualities," according to Khasawneh.

"NPC has re-examined, in a joint effort with the Ministry of Energy, which has entrusted the company to expand the implementation of these works. NPC will test some wells, and then will estimate and determine outcomes according to the evidence, " he pointed out.

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Energy, Hassan Hiyari, presented the conditions of Jordan's energy sector and implementation of the ministry's strategic projects, adding that all the Kingdom's regions are available to invest in gas or oil, or negotiate directly with the government in some "promising" cases.

For their part, the senators stressed the need to orchestrate the reference of information and exploration sites.

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