Sergei Shmatko, Russia’s energy minister, has signed an agreement encouraging Russian companies, including state-owned OAO Zarubezhneft, to explore for oil and gas in Jordan, the Jordanian Energy Ministry said today.

The agreement allows for direct investment in exploration projects and the formation of ventures with private local companies to look for oil and gas in the Arab country. The accord also allows Russians to participate in projects for power generation, oil shale and renewable energy, the ministry said in an e-mailed statement.

Shmatko signed the agreement today in Jordan’s capital, Amman, before Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was scheduled to end a two-day visit, the ministry said. It did not give details about how the pact would encourage Russian companies to do business in Jordan.

Separately, Medvedev and King Abdullah II discussed bilateral cooperation and efforts to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Russia is trying to revive Israeli-Palestinian talks, according to the Jordanian official news agency Petra.

Medvedev travelled to the Palestinian territories for a meeting yesterday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas, Petra said.

Jordan, much of which is desert, relies almost entirely on imports for its energy needs. The kingdom hopes to attract $14 billion in investments in energy infrastructure and develop more of its own resources, in part by building a nuclear power plant and developing renewable energy and oil shale.

Jordan has the world’s fourth-largest reserves of oil shale, a sedimentary rock containing solid bituminous materials that are released as petroleum-like liquids when the rock is heated.

It has signed nuclear-cooperation accords with Russia and nine other nations to prepare for the construction of its first nuclear plant by 2019. The government estimates it has 70,000 tons of uranium deposits.