Taliban Signs Amended Oil Extraction Contract With Chinese Company in Afghanistan

The Taliban’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum announced that it has signed a contract for oil extraction from the Amu Darya basin with a Chinese company on Thursday. Taliban Minister of Mines, Shahabuddin Delawar, said that duration of the oil extraction contract is 25 years.

This is the second time that the Chinese company has signed this oil field contract with amendments and according to the Taliban, China will invest 150 million dollars in the first year of the project.

Delawar added that by signing this contract, the Chinese company "CPEIC" will invest 150 million dollars in the first year and 540 million dollars in three years in the exploration and extraction sector in 4,500 square kilometers located in the provinces of Sar-e-Pol, Faryab, and Jawzjan.

The oil capacity of this field is estimated to be around 87 million oil barrels.

The Taliban’s Minister of Mines also said that in three years, Afghanistan will export oil while meeting its domestic demands.

The Taliban official said that technical teams have reviewed the contract, which was signed in the past, for eight months, and as a result, it was amended and signed again.

Delawar did not provide details about the amendments, but said that one of the added items is that the company must hire workers from inside Afghanistan.

According to the Taliban official, the project will add 3,000 jobs in Afghanistan.

The "exploration and extraction" contract of the Amu Darya oil field had been signed with the Chinese company in 2011 during the presidency of Hamid Karzai.