NPC to dig new wells in Risha gas field

AMMAN — The National Petroleum Company (NPC) on Saturday announced plans to drill five to six new wells in Al Risha gas field in 2020. 

Regarding the availability and quantity of the gas, NPC Chairman Maher Hijazin said an assessment could only be made after finishing the digging process, according to an NPC statement published by Al Rai daily.

Within the concession area of NPC, the Risha gas field currently has 44 wells and work is under way to dig the 45th well, dubbed Risha 49, the chairman added. 

Assessment results of Risha Field’s recently drilled Well 48 showed it had a daily production capacity of seven million cubic feet (mcf) of natural gas, increasing the production of the Risha Field to 16mcf to constitute 5 per cent of the Kingdom’s daily needs of gas, estimated at 330mcf.

Established in 1995, the NPC has produced some 221 billion cubic feet of natural gas through 2017, according to a statement by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, which stressed that the future exploration “would not need foreign investment”.

However, the sum of the NPC’s production over the last 22 years would barely cover Jordan’s natural gas needs for two years at the current consumption rate.

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