AMMAN — Assessment results of Risha Field’s Well 48 showed it had a daily production capacity of 7 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.

Quoted in a ministry statement, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati said on Monday that the discovery of the well was a result of “the efforts and expertise of Jordanian employees working at the National Petroleum Company [NPC]”, according to a ministry statement.

Zawati described the increase of production from 9mcf to 16mcf as an “achievement on the right track”.

The minister called on the administration and employees of the NPC to move forward with the company’s plan to dig more wells, so as to contribute to realising energy security and reducing the power bill.

Maher Hijazin, NPC chairman, said that the company is currently preparing for digging Well 49, which is 1,200 metres away from Well 48, expecting the drilling process to start within one week.

Hijazin noted that the NPC has prepared technical studies to better understand the geology and topography of the Risha Field ahead of the drilling in early February, and it drilled the well within 88 days at a depth of 2,767 metres.

The chairman highlighted the importance of enabling the company to implement its plan for 2019, which stipulates drilling three wells with the aim of increasing gas production at the Risha Field and raising the contribution of local energy resources in the total energy mix.

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

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

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