Jordan has successfully tested a well that could produce up to 3 million cubic feet of gas from its Risha gas field, according to the energy and mineral resources minister.

The National Petroleum Company, Jordan's state-owned energy company, is now drilling Well 50, Hala Zawati said on Twitter.

الحمد لله🙏 انجاز جديد في حقل الريشة، البئر ٤٩ بئر ناجحة وانتاجها حوالي ٣ ملايين قدم مكعب يوميا. وهذا الإنجاز يسجل لشركة البترول الوطنية بخبراتها وسواعدها الأردنية. يجري الان حفر البئر ٥٠ وان شاء الله يستمر الانجاز وتستمر المسيرة🙏 ⁦@OmarRazzaz⁩ pic.twitter.com/IfNL4pphAV — Hala Zawati (@hzawati) December 17, 2019

With the additional production from Well 49, Jordan's gas production from the Risha field will reach 19 million cf/d, equivalent to 5 per cent of the kingdom's daily gas consumption, said Ms Zawati, reported the state-run Petra news agency.

Jordan, which imports more than 95 per cent of energy needs has been looking to diversify its mix through the development of a renewables strategy as well as kick-starting its oil shale programme.

The country has the world's eighth largest reserves of oil shale, according to the World Energy Council. Oil shale, not the same as shale oil, is formed of organic fine-grained sedimentary rock from which oil can be extracted through heating.

The announcement of additional domestic gas production also comes ahead of the implementation of a $10 billion (Dh36.7bn) deal to import Israeli gas through a pipeline. Israel, which lies to the east of Jordan, started production from the massive Leviathan gasfield in the Eastern Mediterranean and will supply some of the fuel over the coming weeks to Egypt as well as Jordan. Both Jordan and Egypt have peace treaties with Israel.

The Jordanian government plans to move ahead with further exploration efforts in order to diversify its current energy mix, Ms Zawati said.

Work on Well 50 is expected to be completed by next February, according to Muhammed Khasawneh, chairman of NPC.

The NPC has produced around 221 billion cf/d of gas between 1995 and 2017, with the production barely able to meet Jordan's rising consumption needs. The kingdom's daily consumption of gas averages 330 million cf/d.