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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Prime Minister, Hani al-Mulki, said the government is committed to providing the necessary facilities to overcome any obstacles that may face the implementation of a major project to generate electricity from oil shale.

In a statement issued Saturday, the prime minister said the project, whose financial closure agreement was signed on Thursday, would increase reliance on local resources and diversify sources of energy.

He added that the $2.1 billion-project, which will be carried out by a Chinese-Malaysian-Estonian consortium, with a capacity of 485 megawatts, constitutes a milestone and a quantum leap in exploiting the Kingdom's oil shale as a natural resource.

The premier noted that the project is the first of its kind in the Kingdom and the largest in the region, which is based on direct combustion of oil shale to generate electricity, and is hoped to provide about 15 percent of Jordan's total electricity generation.

He said: "We hope to see the production of electricity from oil shale as soon as possible, and that this dream becomes a reality."

The prime minister also expressed hope that all phases of the project will be implemented as scheduled, especially the start of the actual production.

Oil shale reserves in Jordan are estimated at 70 billion tons, putting the Kingdom in the fourth place globally in terms of oil shale reserves.