Risha Gas Field’s Well 49 drilling ‘a success’ — Energy ministry

AMMAN — Assessment of digging in Risha Field’s Well 49 showed "successful" results, indicating that the well can produces some 3 million cubic feet (mcf) of natural gas daily, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Hala Zawati said on Tuesday. 

In a ministry statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Zawati noted that the well increases the production capacity of the Risha Field to 19mcf daily.

The minister said that the government is moving ahead with exploration efforts as part of its endeavours to diversify local energy resources in the total energy mix, noting that the government in 2019 drilled two wells and started drilling a third 11 years after it had halted drilling. 

Chairman of the National Petroleum Company (NPC) Muhammad Khasawneh noted the challenge of water flow to the well, which requires separation of water, adding that temporary production at Well 49 is ongoing after separating surface water. 

Khasawneh added that drilling operations on Well 50 have already started, expecting the work to be finished by next February. 

The production capacity of Risha Field previously stood at 30mcf per day before going down to 9mcf and rising again after the drilling of Well 48, which increased the production to 16mcf, which comprises 5 per cent of the Kingdom's daily consumption of gas (330mcf). 

From its establishment in 1995 until 2017, the NPC produced some 221 billion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the statement.

The sum of the NPC’s production over the span of those 22 years “barely covers” Jordan’s natural gas power needs for two years at the current consumption rate.

The Natural Resources Authority has drilled 45 wells since the NPC’s inception, 15 of which are operational and productive, the statement said.