AMMAN - Despite its lack of oil deposits and other conventional natural resources, the Kingdom is rich in one untapped energy resource which has yet to be explored: oil shale.
According to National Energy Resource Centre Director Malek Kabariti, the resource could be used to provide the Kingdom with 50 per cent of its energy needs for over a century.
Although relatively new in the energy sector, Estonia already uses the resource for 80 per cent of its energy needs.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Khaldoun Qteishat, president of the Natural Resources Authority (NRA), announced on Wednesday the completion of the first stage of the authority's oil shale strategy and plans for the second phase of exploring the resource, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
Under the first phase of the strategy, several agreements were signed with companies investigating the potential of oil shale extraction across the country. The second phase is heralded by memoranda of understanding the ministry has signed with three companies, which will carry out feasibility studies and assessments of the Lajoun area, each receiving one-third of the shallow oil shale area. The minister stressed that the second phase needs an estimated 7-9 years plus a large amount of investments to achieve the envisaged goals.
According to NRA Director Maher Hijazin, the government is now looking into different commercial uses of the resource, after carrying out pilot projects over the past 20 years.
"Oil shale covers two-thirds of the country at various depths, so there is quite a long-term potential," Hijazin said.
In an NRA study, it was revealed that 40 billion tonnes of oil shale exist in 21 sites concentrated by the Yarmouk River, Buweida, Beit Ras, Rweished and Karak, Madaba and Maan districts.
But the resource is expensive to extract and utilise, according to Hijazin, who added that the different processes may cost billions of dollars.
In order to be used as energy, oil shale must undergo retorting, a heating process that separates oil from oil shale and other mineral parts, and direct burning, where the resource is translated to create electricity and cannot be used as gasoline or conventional fuel.
In the western and southern areas, oil shale is close to the surface, the NRA director said. South of Amman down to Maan, oil shale is present 40-60 metres below soil, which makes it suitable for mining and then retorting.
Prior to the retorting process, oil shale is mined from the ground and then most often crushed. Then, the resource is taken to be retorted. Even after retorting, however, the oil must be upgraded by further processing before it can be sent to a refinery.
"Currently, there is no commercial plant for retorting in the world, what we're doing here is still exploratory," Hijazin noted, adding that even upgrading refineries and establishing plants for post-retorting processing would take years and cost millions.
In the east and north of the Kingdom, oil shale is at very deep levels and cannot be mined. Around Azraq, for example, oil shale begins at 900 metres, Hijazin pointed out.
For these parts of the Kingdom, the ministry and the NRA are considering the In-situ Conversion Process, where the ground is heated over several years and the oil shale is then extracted in an oil form. Shell Oil Company, which developed the process, is interested in carrying out the project in the Kingdom, but the process is long and would cost billions, according to Hijazin.
Towards the end of June, a draft agreement between NRA and Shell is expected to further explore deep oil shale deposits.
The NRA recently signed an agreement for a feasibility study with Eesti Energia, the Estonian state power company, for a power plant using the direct burning of oil shale. Developing such a power plant, which would produce between 600-900 megawatts, will take 7-10 years, the NRA director said.
The NRA is also currently exploring using oil shale in the cement industry and using part oil shale as an input to cement to save energy and lower production cost.
After the submission of feasibility studies, the government will negotiate a concession agreement with the Estonian company, and then send the agreement to Cabinet for endorsement before it is forwarded to Parliament for a special vote. Concerned companies will submit several preliminary feasibility studies within the next few months. Concession agreements are expected by the end of the year, the NRA official said.
Despite the excitement over oil shale, Hijazin warned that it would not be an instant solution to the Kingdom's energy crunch.
"It is not going to happen tomorrow. There are lots of unknowns that have to be answered: environmental, commercial and financial. It cannot just be squeezed out of the ground like oil," he said, stressing that it will take several years to develop the sector and cost millions to carry out the studies alone.
By Taylor Luck
© Jordan Times 2008
