Natural gas output 'drops by 5.28 per cent at Risheh field'

AMMAN — Natural gas output from the Risheh field located near the Iraqi border dropped by 5.28 per cent in 2016, according to the National Petroleum Company.

Gas production from the field reached 4.112 billion cubic feet, compared to 4.341 billion cubic feet in 2015, according to the company's annual report on the Amman Stock Exchange website.

The average daily gas output in 2016 was 11.235 million cubic feet, the company said, while announcing its plan to work on increasing gas production from the company's concession area in the field this year.

In 2017, the company will drill two wells and conduct maintenance on several existing wells, in addition to undertaking some renovating projects to increase daily production to 20.1 million cubic feet.

The company said it was seeking a strategic partner to explore for oil and gas in the eastern parts of the Kingdom, after terminating a production sharing agreement with IPG, a UK-based company earlier this year.

The company’s revenues from selling gas in 2016 reached JD5.8 million, compared with JD6.1 million the previous year.

In 2016, IPG was granted concession rights to explore for gas and oil in Al Risheh gas field and Al Safawai area near the borders with Iraq.

IPG, a newly registered company in the UK, owned by Egyptian investor Yehya Al Koumi, has recruited “internationally-renowned” experts in the field of oil and gas, according to energy officials.

Early in 2014, then prime minister Abdullah Ensour announced that British Petroleum (BP) ended its oil drilling operation in Jordan after unsatisfactory results at its second well in the country. The government then floated several tenders to attract companies to explore for oil and gas in Al Risheh gas field and Al Safawi area.

Jordan imports about 97 per cent of its energy needs annually.
Around 80 per cent of the country's electricity is produced via gas.