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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Prime Minister Hani Al-Mulki on Thursday reviewed progress of the Atarat project to produce electricity from oil shale with a capacity of 470 megawatts and a total investment worth 2.2 billion dollars in the central region of Atarat Umm Ghudran.

During the inspection visit, the prime minister said the project is a milestone in the development process in Jordan.

He pointed out Jordan, blessed by diverse natural resources, has begun since the fifties of the last century to to invest in cement, phosphate and potash industries, and is launching a new stage to exploit oil shale to achieve development of national industries and economic growth.

"We are seeing an achievement on the ground for the project, which is expected to start operating in 2020 by providing about 12 percent of Jordan's electricity production capacity," he said.

The government had signed mid-March last year under the auspices of Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki, an agreement to declare the financial closure of the project in preparation for the start of its implementation on the ground.

The Prime Minister said the government is cooperating with the Lower House of Parliament to carry out financial reforms that ensure the development and prosperity of the country as it is working to stimulate economic growth and to establish such mega-projects.

He said the government is working to provide a lucrative environment for investment and keenly seeks to meet needs of investors with utmost transparency and "away from any kind of corruption," pointing out the government has won today an international arbitration case in connection with the Disi water conveyance project.

"We are proud of this project, which we have long waited for long, and will be the first for other oil shale projects, either by direct combustion or distillation," he said.

For his part, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Saleh Al-Kharabsheh, stressed the importance of the project to maintain security of energy supplies, based on local resources, to produce reliable and sustainable electricity by 12% in 2020 of the total electricity generated in the Kingdom, which contributes to reducing import of oil derivatives for electricity generation purposes.

He also stressed the importance of this mega-project in marketing similar enterprises in the field of shale oil exploitation to obtain the necessary funding for their implementation, which will reflect positively on national economy.