The lifeline of southern Jordan ... a Kuwaiti oil refinery with 6.8 billion dollars

Ayman Fadilat - Amman

The desert governorate of Ma'an (250 km south of Jordan) has always waited for huge investment to save its residents from the poverty they are living in, and provide job opportunities for its unemployed children.

Until the Kuwaiti announcement of the establishment of two projects for an oil refinery and a petrochemical complex with a capital of $ 6.8 billion, distributed between $ 3.8 billion for an oil refinery and three billion for the petrochemical complex.

Experts believe that this project will provide tens of thousands of job opportunities, whether directly or permanently in the project itself for the Jordanian labor that will be trained and rehabilitated, or indirectly temporary for several years, through the refinery construction and petrochemical complex.

Investors in charge of the project expect to start the official operation of the refinery and its production in the middle of the next 2024, with the possibility of starting trial production within three years.

Jordan from importer to exporter
"We will transform Jordan from an oil importer to a source three years from now," Kuwaiti investor Sheikh Meshal Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah said in a press conference held on Wednesday in Amman, stressing the transformation of the Jordanian city of Ma'an to the same as the Ahmadi Oil City in Kuwait.

Al-Sabah continued that the idea of ​​the project started in 2018, and is divided into two projects: an oil refinery with a refining capacity of 150 thousand barrels per day, with a capital of $ 3.6 billion, and a petrochemical complex with a capital of three billion dollars, and funding for the project is currently available and ready for implementation.

Regarding the start of the establishment of the refinery, Al-Sabah expected to start its construction in mid 2021 after completing the necessary studies and approvals from the Ministry of Energy and official bodies, explaining that the project is a personal investment with investors from Jordan, Kuwait and the United States, who work in the areas of management, technology support and oil industries.

Regarding the investment return on the project, Al-Sabah expected that it will reach $ 11 per refining per barrel in the refinery, pointing out that the refinery will provide oil derivatives to Jordan at a preferential price in case it needs it, without competing with anyone in the local market.

As for the petrochemical complex, it will produce many chemical components that are extracted from oil, such as plastics, ethylene, and chemical solvents of all kinds, for the purpose of exporting abroad.

Jordanian welcome
Jordanian Energy Minister Hala Zawati welcomed the investment project, stressing that Jordan's doors are open to any investments in the energy field, including oil refineries and petrochemical plants, and stressed that the Ministry is ready to overcome any obstacles to such projects.

Zouati explained in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the ministry granted preliminary approval to establish an oil refinery in Ma'an Governorate, at the request of the investor, and the project proposal that was presented in its initial stages and is in the process of discussion with the investor who is required to achieve the requirements of the mechanism for establishing such a project, and will be followed by the negotiation stage to proceed Go ahead with the project.

The Ministry stipulated that the investor must provide the appropriate financial and technical solvency, with the Jordanian government not holding any responsibilities for securing crude oil materials, or buying refined products for the local market from oil derivatives.

Improve the investment environment
For his part, economic analyst Khaled Al-Zubaidi considered that "the project will improve the investment environment in the kingdom and create tens of thousands of job opportunities," adding that the governorate of Ma'an and the south of the kingdom will be a destination for investors, as he put it.

He added in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that the project will also operate the port of Aqaba through the import of crude oil and the export of refined petroleum products and the products of the petrochemical complex.

Al-Zubaidi indicated to the increase in the added value of the project by extending the Iraqi oil pipeline from Basra to the port of Aqaba through the southern regions of the Kingdom, in addition to the residential city that will be established in the city of Maan, and the services that will be provided to the local community from the project.

According to economists, the project will provide direct support to the national economy. The process of exporting refined oil derivatives will contribute to increasing the foreign currency of the Kingdom, and will contribute to monetary stability and increase domestic income by creating job opportunities.

Jordan is awaiting investments worth two billion dollars during the current year, including Qatar and Kuwait in the fields of renewable energy, tourism that is booming and advanced, and the medical and manufacturing industries and other sectors.

The Investment Promotion Authority has allocated one window for dealing with investors, and following up on licensing issues, official approvals, local employment, etc., in order to motivate and facilitate investors.