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Over the coming decades, the world will need vast amounts of extra energy and countries will need to keep their energy supply secure. This energy will need to be produced in environmentally and socially responsible ways. Meeting this energy challenge is fast becoming one of the defining tests facing society – and our industry – this century.
Three hard truths make this challenge tougher. First, demand for energy is growing rapidly as the world’s population increases and as standards of living in developing economies rise. Second, supplies of easily accessible oil and natural gas cannot keep up with the unconstrained growth in energy demand.
To close the resultant gap, the world will have no choice but to use energy more efficiently and increase the use of alternative of sources such as the sun, wind and biofuels. Additionally, it means more use of nuclear energy, more coal, and more oil and natural gas from difficult-to-reach locations or from unconventional sources like oil shale.
And third, as a result of the first two truths, CO2 emissions from the use of fossil fuels, responsible for more than half of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, are set to rise, even as concerns about climate change grow.
The Jordan Oil Shale Company (“JOSCo”) is looking to play a part in facing the energy challenge and building a responsible energy future.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a forward-looking country of nearly six million people situated in the Arab Levant.
Unlike many of its neighbours, Jordan was not gifted with large conventional oil and gas resources. It was, however, gifted with talented people and potentially significant deposits of oil shale.
Jordan has recognised the challenge ahead and has developed an energy master plan identifying opportunities to improve the country’s energy infrastructure and to encourage investments in renewable energy projects and in developing the country’s indigenous energy resources such as oil shale. The concession agreement signed between the Government of Jordan and JOSCo is aligned with meeting the global challenge and Jordan’s energy vision.
If JOSCo were successful in developing a commercially viable oil shale project, such a project would represent a significant foreign direct investment and the creation of an important new source of revenue for the nation.
It would also significantly contribute towards the development of a domestic supply of energy, expansion of local expertise and economic growth.
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