Trans Global Petroleum Jordan Ltd. Co. will officially open a new exploratory well, Issal-1, on Tuesday in Jordan’s Ghor Safi near the Dead Sea, a senior official of the US firm said on Sunday.
"Senior company officials along with others from the ministry of energy and mineral resources, the Natural Resources Authority (NRA) and contractors involved in the drilling will visit the site on Tuesday," said Nick Abraham, the company's director general.
According to another company official, it took the company four years of intensive study in the Dead Sea area before deciding whether Issal-1 was worth exploring, according to the Jordan Times.
Several years ago, the firm dug another exploratory well in the Dead Sea, but "just some minor flows of gas were found," said Abraham.
The company expects to drill anywhere from 2,500-5,000 meters deep in search of oil.
In 1996, the American company signed a deal with the NRA for an exploration and production-sharing agreement, to drill for oil in the Dead Sea and Wadi Araba regions.
"The government will assume no risk since it will share only in production profits and not the cost of exploration," said Maan Hiyari, director general of the NRA.
Jordan has also explored the possibility of extracting fossil fuel from oil shale, but making the project a success would require extremely high oil prices – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
