The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) says after extracting the Herat oil field, Afghanistan will become self-sufficient in the gas and oil industry.
The ministry officials said that it has been almost three months since the exploitation of Herat oil field has been put up for tender and several companies have shown interest in this area.
Herat oil field includes 13 districts in the southwest of the country, which requires huge investment, officials said.
They added that with the extraction of oil and gas from the Herat oil field, Afghanistan will become self-sufficient in terms of oil products and will even export to other countries.
“So far, many companies have come, big companies have come, we will talk to them and when an agreement is reached, the process of exploration and extraction will be contracted with them,” said Homayoun Afghan, a spokesman for MoMP.
Meanwhile, members of the private sector also said that they are willing to invest in the mining sector, especially oil extraction.
According to them, if the government provides the conditions for the development of investment in the oil sector, Afghanistan will quickly become an oil-exporting country.
“If we invest in this sector, it will be enough for us and we will also become an exporting country,” said Mohammad Baz Ghairat, a member of the private sector.
Earlier, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum signed four mining contracts worth more than 10.15 billion afghanis with four local companies.