Future Policies and Strategies for Oil Shale Development in Jordan

Indigenous oil shale deposits could satisfy Jordan’s demand for liquid and gaseous fuels as well as electricity for manycenturies. Markets also exist for raw and retorted oil shale, spent shale, and for sulfur recovered during the upgrading andrefining of crude shale oil. Although the potential benefits of oil shale development are substantial, complex and expensivefacilities would be required, and these have serious economic, environmental, and social implications for the Kingdom and itspeople. In January 2006, the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) awarded a grant to the JordanianMinistry of Planning and International Cooperation to support the analysis of current oil shale processing technologies andthe application of international expertise to the development of a oil shale industry in Jordan. The goal of the technicalassistance project was to help the Governement of Jordan (GoJ) establish short- and long-term strategies for oil shaledevelopment and to facilitate the commercial production of shale oil in the country. This paper discusses the results of theproject. The Kingdom’s current energy situation and its previous work on oil shale are summarized, and the incentives andrestraints on oil shale commercialization are described. Impediments to development are identified, and possiblegovernmental responses are assessed