The Jordanian government has announced that it will sign an agreement with BP for the development of Al Risheh gas field by the end of this month.
Jordanian news agency Petra reported that a spokesman for the ministry of energy and natural resources, Mahmoud Al Eis, said negotiations with the global energy company had reached their final phase, but some “technical details remained and were being worked out”.
The deal provides for a 3-year exploration phase, extendable for a fourth year, during which BP would spend US$237 million and offer a down payment of $20 million for the state treasury. If studies revealed the project was economically feasible, he said, a comprehensive development accord would be sealed at an investment volume of between $8-$9 billion and $30 million would be paid directly to the state treasury.
Eis also added that the gas field had a current daily output of 28 million cubic feet, about 10 million of which from a recently-discovered well .
The National Petroleum Company had floated a tender in mid-2008 to attract world companies for development of Al Risheh, which BP won from a field of six bidders.
