According to the agreement, Shell will invest a minimum of $30 million in the first phase of the project.
After three years of exploration, Shell will enter a four-year evaluation stage to examine the feasibility of the initiative.
If the company agrees to follow through on the scheme, it will be 15-20 years before oil is extracted, Hijazin said.
According to the authorities, Shell could invest $340 million in the project and pay the government $150 million for different stages of the scheme.
Official statistics have revealed that Jordan holds about 40 billion tonnes of oil shale deposits.
