KABUL (SW) – A Turkish firm has won the contract to explore gas reserves in Jowzjan province, officials have said.
The contract to drill for gas in Yatim Taq field in Jowzjan was signed on Saturday followed by a press conference by the Acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Shahabuddin Delawar and the representative of the Turkish company Safir Drilling Services in Kabul.
Shahabuddin Delawar said that the contract to drill these two gas wells with a depth of 1,650 meters, worth 7.5 million US dollars, has been signed for one year. He added that after digging these two wells, 300,000 cubic meters of gas will be extracted from it in 24 hours.
Mr. Delawar said that Afghanistan has the capacity to produce billions of cubic meters of natural gas, out of which 600,000 cubic meters of gas are extracted every day from several wells in the Amu Darya oil field alone.
Officials of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum say that five foreign companies participated in this tender, of which the Turkish company Safir Drilling Services has been identified as the winner.
The officials of the winning company said that by drilling these two gas wells, work will be provided for dozens of people in Afghanistan.
Qadir Karakoc, the head of Safir Drilling Services, said: “Several Turkish engineers will work in this project, and 50 Afghan citizens will be provided with work.”
the Acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum Shahabuddin Delawar said that soon another contract for 4,000 square kilometers of Faryab’s Tuti Maidan area gas field worth one billion dollars will be signed with a foreign company.
Afghanistan, having natural reserves of oil and gas, is still exporting these important materials from abroad.
