Oil shale in Jordan

Jordan oil shale.

Oil shale in Jordan represents a significant resource. Oil shale deposits in Jordan underlie more than 60% of Jordanian territory. The total resources amounts to 31 billion tonnes of oil shale.[1]

The deposits include a high quality marinite oil shale of Late Cretaceous to early Cenozoic age.[2] The most important and investigated deposits are located in west-central Jordan, where they occur at the surface and close to developed infrastructure.[3][4]

Although oil shale was utilized in northern Jordan prior to and during World War I, intensive exploration and studies of Jordan's oil shale resource potential started in the 1970s and 1980s, being motivated by higher oil prices, modern technology and better economic potential. As of 2008, no oil shale industry exists in Jordan, but several companies are considering both shale oil extraction and oil shale combustion for thermal power generation.[5]

  1. ^ "Jordan, China in $2.5 bn deal for oil-shale plant". Fox News. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
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  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jordan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference jordantimes2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).