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Only two hydrocarbon fields have been discovered in Jordan so far, despite the drilling of more than 120 petroleum wells. The Silurian-sourced and Ordovician-reservoired Risha gas field in Northeast Jordan originally had a recoverable gas reserve of around 350 billion cubic feet (bcf). Since production started in 1989, almost half has already been produced. According to Jordan’s National Petroleum Company (NPC), original gas reserves of the Risha field are up to 2–3 trillion cubic feet. The same play generated oil in the Wadi Sirhan area, where small amounts of light oil were tested in Well Wadi Sirhan-4 (WS-4). The second field in Jordan is the Hamzeh oil field in central North Jordan. However, with only modest original, recoverable reserves of 1 million barrels (MMBO), of which 0.86 MMBO has already been produced at an average rate of 40 barrels of oil per day. Current exploration in the country concentrates on Maastrichtian oil shale exploration in central Jordan, where the world’s fourth largest oil shale reserves are located. Organic richness in the Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation partly exceeds 20%. Besides traditional open pit mining, modern in situ oil generating techniques could be applied in Jordanian oil shale exploration. The same oil shale unit also exists underneath the Dead Sea pull-apart basin, where it is deeply buried in the oil and gas generative windows. Hydrocarbon indications occur across the Dead Sea Basin and include numerous oil and gas seeps, tar sands, heavy oil, and floating asphalt blocks in Dead Sea waters and on the shoreline. Nevertheless, exploration efforts in the Dead Sea have been disappointing so far and resulted in the discovery of just a few small commercial gas accumulations which lie on the Israeli side of the basin, namely the Zohar, Kidod, and Haqanaim gas fields. Other frontier plays in Jordan include the Cambrian in the Jafr Rift and the Triassic-Jurassic in northern Jordan.

Only two hydrocarbon fields have been discovered in Jordan so far, despite the drilling of more than 120 petroleum wells. The Silurian-sourced and Ordovician-reservoired Risha gas field in Northeast Jordan originally had a recoverable gas reserve of around 350 billion cubic feet (bcf). Since production started in 1989, almost half has already been produced. According to Jordan’s National Petroleum Company (NPC), original gas reserves of the Risha field are up to 2–3 trillion cubic feet. The same play generated oil in the Wadi Sirhan area, where small amounts of light oil were tested in Well Wadi Sirhan-4 (WS-4). The second field in Jordan is the Hamzeh oil field in central North Jordan. However, with only modest original, recoverable reserves of 1 million barrels (MMBO), of which 0.86 MMBO has already been produced at an average rate of 40 barrels of oil per day. Current exploration in the country concentrates on Maastrichtian [[oil shale]] exploration in central Jordan, where the world’s fourth largest oil shale reserves are located. Organic richness in the Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation partly exceeds 20%. Besides traditional open pit mining, modern in situ oil generating techniques could be applied in Jordanian oil shale exploration. The same oil shale unit also exists underneath the Dead Sea pull-apart basin, where it is deeply buried in the oil and gas generative windows. Hydrocarbon indications occur across the Dead Sea Basin and include numerous oil and gas seeps, tar sands, heavy oil, and floating asphalt blocks in Dead Sea waters and on the shoreline. Nevertheless, exploration efforts in the Dead Sea have been disappointing so far and resulted in the discovery of just a few small commercial gas accumulations which lie on the Israeli side of the basin, namely the Zohar, Kidod, and Haqanaim gas fields. Other frontier plays in Jordan include the Cambrian in the Jafr Rift and the Triassic-Jurassic in northern Jordan.

==Introduction==

==Introduction==

[[file:M106Ch07Fig03.jpg|thumb|300px|{{figure number|3}}Structural west-east section of the Risha area. Hercynian subcrop becomes progressively older toward the west. From L&uuml;ning et al.<ref name=L&uuml;ningetal_2006>L&uuml;ning, S., Loydell, D. K., Storch, P., Shahin, Y., and Craig, J., 2006, Origin, sequence stratigraphy and depositional environment of an Upper Ordovician (Hirnantian) deglacial black shale, Jordan - Discussion: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 230, p. 352–355.</ref>]]

[[file:M106Ch07Fig03.jpg|thumb|300px|{{figure number|3}}Structural west-east section of the Risha area. Hercynian subcrop becomes progressively older toward the west. From L&uuml;ning et al.<ref name=L&uuml;ningetal_2006>L&uuml;ning, S., Loydell, D. K., Storch, P., Shahin, Y., and Craig, J., 2006, Origin, sequence stratigraphy and depositional environment of an Upper Ordovician (Hirnantian) deglacial black shale, Jordan - Discussion: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 230, p. 352–355.</ref>]]

[[file:M106Ch07Fig04.jpg|thumb|300px|{{figure number|4}} Isopach map of organic-rich Silurian shales with total gamma-ray values exceeding 150 API, corresponding to organic richness values of greater than 1–2%, depending on the degree of thermal maturation. Gamma-ray values in some wells have been adjusted according to offset shale baseline. From L&uuml;ning et al.<ref name=L&uuml;ningetal_2006 /> 5 km (3.1 mi).]]

[[file:M106Ch07Fig04.jpg|thumb|300px|{{figure number|4}} Isopach map of organic-rich Silurian shales with total gamma-ray values exceeding 150 API, corresponding to organic richness values of greater than 1–2%, depending on the degree of [[thermal maturation]]. Gamma-ray values in some wells have been adjusted according to [[offset]] shale baseline. From L&uuml;ning et al.<ref name=L&uuml;ningetal_2006 /> 5 km (3.1 mi).]]

Encouraged by recent high oil prices, a number of international oil companies have now entered the country to explore the oil shale deposits themselves where they are thermally immature and close to surface. Feasibility studies have been carried out for oil shale mining and in situ production by heating.

Encouraged by recent high oil prices, a number of international oil companies have now entered the country to explore the [[oil shale]] deposits themselves where they are thermally immature and close to surface. Feasibility studies have been carried out for oil shale mining and in situ production by heating.

==Geological setting==

==Geological setting==

In nearby Israel and Syria, rifting took place between Permian or Triassic and Early Jurassic, associated with the opening of the Neo-Tethys and the northward drift of Turkish-Iranian Gondwanan fragments from the Arabian plate ([[:file:M106Ch07Fig05.jpg|Figure 5]]). During Late Cretaceous to Tertiary several of these grabens became inverted due to Alpine collisional stress and now form the orogenic chain of the Syrian Arc (e.g., Abu-Jaber et al.<ref name=Abujaberetal_1989>Abu-Jaber, N. S., Kimberley, M. M., and Cavaroc, V. V., 1989, Mesozoic-Palaeogene basin development within the eastern Mediterranean borderland: Journal of Petroleum Geology, v. 12, no. 4, p. 419–436.</ref>).

In nearby Israel and Syria, rifting took place between Permian or Triassic and Early Jurassic, associated with the opening of the Neo-Tethys and the northward drift of Turkish-Iranian Gondwanan fragments from the Arabian plate ([[:file:M106Ch07Fig05.jpg|Figure 5]]). During Late Cretaceous to Tertiary several of these grabens became inverted due to Alpine collisional stress and now form the orogenic chain of the Syrian Arc (e.g., Abu-Jaber et al.<ref name=Abujaberetal_1989>Abu-Jaber, N. S., Kimberley, M. M., and Cavaroc, V. V., 1989, Mesozoic-Palaeogene basin development within the eastern Mediterranean borderland: Journal of Petroleum Geology, v. 12, no. 4, p. 419–436.</ref>).

While inversion took place in the Syrian Arc region, extensional tectonics occurred in northern Jordan and led to the opening of the Late Cretaceous–Early Tertiary Azraq-Sirhan rift graben ([[:file:M106Ch07Fig06.jpg|Figure 6]]; Beydoun et al.<ref name=Beydounetal_1994 />). Inception, age, and trend are analogous to the petroliferous Euphrates graben system of eastern Syria.<ref name=Beydounetal_1994 /> <ref name=Litaketal_1998>Lipson-Benitah, S., et al., 1990, Dysoxic sedimentation in the Cenomanian-Turonian Daliyya Formation, Israel: AAPG Studies in Geology, v. 30, p. 27–39.</ref> From the mid-Miocene, major strike slip movements occurred along the Dead Sea that resulted in the creation of a series of three major west-stepping en-echelon faults with well defined pull-apart basins, that is, the Gulf of Aqaba Basin, the Dead Sea Basin, and the Galilee Basin.<ref name=Beydounetal_1994 /> The NNE-trending Dead Sea pull-apart basin is fairly narrow (7–10 km [4–6 mi]) and 132 km (82 mi) long.<ref name=Tenbrinketal_1993>Ten Brink, U. S., et al., 1993, Structure of the Dead Sea pull-apart basin from gravity analyses: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 98, no. B12, p. 877–894.</ref> Its transform fault shows up to 107 km (66 mi) of left [[lateral]] displacement.<ref name=Martetal_2005>Mart, Y., Ryan, W. B. F., and Lunina, O. V., 2005, Review of the tectonics of the Levant Rift system: The structural significance of oblique continental breakup: Tectonophysics, v. 395, p. 209–232.</ref>

While inversion took place in the Syrian Arc region, extensional tectonics occurred in northern Jordan and led to the opening of the Late Cretaceous–Early Tertiary Azraq-Sirhan rift graben ([[:file:M106Ch07Fig06.jpg|Figure 6]]; Beydoun et al.<ref name=Beydounetal_1994 />). Inception, age, and trend are analogous to the petroliferous Euphrates graben system of eastern Syria.<ref name=Beydounetal_1994 /> <ref name=Litaketal_1998>Lipson-Benitah, S., et al., 1990, [http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/geochem1/data/a032/a032/0001/0000/0027.htm Dysoxic sedimentation in the Cenomanian-Turonian Daliyya Formation, Israel], in AAPG Studies in Geology 30, p. 27–39.</ref> From the mid-Miocene, major strike slip movements occurred along the Dead Sea that resulted in the creation of a series of three major west-stepping en-echelon faults with well defined pull-apart basins, that is, the Gulf of Aqaba Basin, the Dead Sea Basin, and the Galilee Basin.<ref name=Beydounetal_1994 /> The NNE-trending Dead Sea pull-apart basin is fairly narrow (7–10 km [4–6 mi]) and 132 km (82 mi) long.<ref name=Tenbrinketal_1993>Ten Brink, U. S., et al., 1993, Structure of the Dead Sea pull-apart basin from gravity analyses: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 98, no. B12, p. 877–894.</ref> Its transform fault shows up to 107 km (66 mi) of left [[lateral]] displacement.<ref name=Martetal_2005>Mart, Y., Ryan, W. B. F., and Lunina, O. V., 2005, Review of the tectonics of the Levant Rift system: The structural significance of oblique continental breakup: Tectonophysics, v. 395, p. 209–232.</ref>

The wrenching and pull-apart basin creation is linked to the opening history of the Gulf of Aqaba, Gulf of Suez, and the Red Sea. The onset of Dead Sea movements coincides with a shift of the extensional stress regime from the abandoned Gulf of Suez toward the Gulf of Aqaba/Dead Sea transform.<ref name=Bosworthetal_2005>Bosworth, W., Huchon, P., and McClay, K., 2005, The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Basins: Journal of African Earth Sciences, v. 43, p. 334–378.</ref> The Neogene strike-slip faulting in Jordan also modified the structural style of the older basins further east, including the Azraq-Sirhan Basin. Neogene to Pleistocene basalts of northern Jordan were formed as a result of extensional movements in the Dead Sea transform and the Red Sea/Gulf of Suez and Aqaba systems.<ref name=Ilanietal_2001>Ilani, S., et al., 2001, New K-Ar ages of basalts from the Harrat Ash Shaam volcanic field in Jordan: Implications for the span and duration of the upper-mantle upwelling beneath the western Arabian plate: Geology, v. 29, no. 2, p. 171–174.</ref> <ref name=Shawetal_2003>Shaw, J. E., Baker, J. A., Menzies, M. A., Thirlwall, M. F., and Ibrahim, K. M., 2003, Petrogenesis of the largest intraplate volcanic field on the Arabian plate (Jordan): A mixed lithosphere-asthenosphere source activated by lithospheric extension: Journal of Petrology, v. 44, no. 9, p. 1657–1679.</ref>

The wrenching and pull-apart basin creation is linked to the opening history of the Gulf of Aqaba, Gulf of Suez, and the Red Sea. The onset of Dead Sea movements coincides with a shift of the extensional stress regime from the abandoned Gulf of Suez toward the Gulf of Aqaba/Dead Sea transform.<ref name=Bosworthetal_2005>Bosworth, W., Huchon, P., and McClay, K., 2005, The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Basins: Journal of African Earth Sciences, v. 43, p. 334–378.</ref> The Neogene strike-slip faulting in Jordan also modified the structural style of the older basins further east, including the Azraq-Sirhan Basin. Neogene to Pleistocene basalts of northern Jordan were formed as a result of extensional movements in the Dead Sea transform and the Red Sea/Gulf of Suez and Aqaba systems.<ref name=Ilanietal_2001>Ilani, S., et al., 2001, New K-Ar ages of basalts from the Harrat Ash Shaam volcanic field in Jordan: Implications for the span and duration of the upper-mantle upwelling beneath the western Arabian plate: Geology, v. 29, no. 2, p. 171–174.</ref> <ref name=Shawetal_2003>Shaw, J. E., Baker, J. A., Menzies, M. A., Thirlwall, M. F., and Ibrahim, K. M., 2003, Petrogenesis of the largest intraplate volcanic field on the Arabian plate (Jordan): A mixed lithosphere-asthenosphere source activated by lithospheric extension: Journal of Petrology, v. 44, no. 9, p. 1657–1679.</ref>

* [[Libya hydrocarbon provinces]]

* [[Libya hydrocarbon provinces]]

* [[Tethys region]]

* [[Tethys region]]

==References==

==References==