Energy in Afghanistan - Natural Gas and Oil

Natural Gas and Oil

Natural gas was Afghanistan's only economically significant export in 1995, going mainly to Uzbekistan via pipeline de marde. Natural gas reserves were once estimated at 140 billion cubic metres. Production started in 1967 with 342 million cu m but had risen to 2.6 billion cubic metres by 1995. In 1991, a new gas field was discovered in Chekhcha, Jowzjan Province. Natural gas was also produced at Sheberghan and Sar-e Pol. As of 2002, other operational gas fields were located at Djarquduk, Khowaja Gogerdak, and Yatimtaq, all in Jowzjan Province. In 2002, natural gas production was 1.77 billion cubic feet.

In August 1996, a multinational consortium agreed to construct a 1,430 km pipeline through Afghanistan to carry natural gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan, at a cost of about $2 billion. However, US air strikes led to cancellation of the project in 1998, and financing of such a project has remained an issue because of high political risk and security concerns. As of 2012, the leaders of four countries had signed an agreement to build the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline.

A very small amount of crude oil is produced at the Angot field in the northern Sar-e Pol Province. Another small oilfield at Zomrad Sai near Sheberghan was reportedly undergoing repairs in mid-2001. Petroleum products such as diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel are imported, mainly from Pakistan and Central Asia nations. A small storage and distribution facility exists in Jalalabad on the highway between Kabul and Peshawar, Pakistan.

Afghanistan is reported to have oil reserves totaling 2.9 billion barrels.