KABUL. March 7 (Interfax) - The first trading of oil extracted in Afghanistan has taken place in Kabul, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum in the administration of the Taliban (terrorist organization banned in Russia), which controls Afghanistan, said.
A tender for selling 20,000 tonnes of Kashgar oil and 7,000 tonnes of Angut oil took place on Tuesday in the presence of acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum Shahabuddin Delawar, the ministry's press center said. It noted that the tender was held at the ministry's building in Kabul.
"We bear witness to the first trading of oil extracted in Afghanistan, and we are proud that the bidders are domestic and that all refining of the crude will be done inside Afghanistan," the press center quoted the acting minister as saying in his opening remarks at the tender.
Delawar and a representative of the Chinese petroleum company CAPEIC signed a contract for the development of oil fields in northern Afghanistan on January 5.
"Oil will be extracted from an area covering 4,500 square kilometers across parts of Sar-e-Pul, Jawzjan and Faryab provinces," the state-run news agency Bakhtar said in a report.
Oil production will eventually grow from 1,000 to 23,000 tonnes per day. Chinese investments will range from $150 million to $540 million three years from now. Prospecting will take three years. The oil will be refined in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan will have a 20% share in the project. It will grow to 75% at some point. The 25-year contract is the first international investment document signed since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan.
A representative of the Chinese company Geo-jade Petroleum met with the acting Taliban minister of mines and petroleum in Kabul on March 5, the ministry's press center said.
The representative expressed the company's readiness to invest in fields in Afghanistan, especially in oil and gas fields, and asked the ministry's administration for cooperation, it said.
The acting minister noted the interest of other foreign investors in Afghan fields. He said that all extraction contracts must comply with international standards and the crude must be refined inside Afghanistan. He also asked Chinese partners to submit proposals of investment in mineral development.
According to the website of Geo-jade Petroleum, it started investing in oil and gas in 2010 and now independently manages six prospecting blocks and three extraction blocks with a total area nearing 30,000 square kilometers.