The Afghan government has shortlisted three companies for a major oil and gas exploration project in an aim to boost revenues from natural resources.
The Tajik Basin in Northern Afghanistan will soon see oil and gas exploration underway as a list of more than 20 international companies has been reduced to a shortlist of eight, including ExxonMobil. The remaining bidders also include Dubai's Dragon Oil, Kuwait Energy and the Turkish Petroleum Corp. One will hope to sign the contract in March 2013 to gain access to oil reserves estimated at more than one billion barrels.
Afghanistan is a landlocked country which relies totally on fuel imports from neighboursing Iran and other Central Asian countries. However, its mineral wealth (estimated at up to $3 trillion) is located around the country including in areas affected by the conflict in the south and east.
The Afghan government's drive to exploit the country’s mineral wealth comes from a need to offset the significant loss of revenue in 2014 when foreign aid and spending drops after international troops withdraw. There is further potential revenue from copper, iron and oil as well as the so-called rare earth elements which are used in cell phones, hybrid car batteries, wind turbines and by the defence industries.
First to start oil production extraction in Afghanistan is China National Petroleum Corporation CNPC which expects to build the country's first refinery within the next three years. A $3 billion contract to mine copper has also been signed by China.
The Afghan government has promised that the bids for the new project will be considered in a "thorough, transparent, and fair bidding process until the announcement of the results of the evaluation process."