The Amu Darya, historically known by its Latin name Oxus is a major river in Central Asia and our beloved country, Afghanistan, where it rises in the Pamir mountains, north of Hindu Kush.
The Amu Darya is formed by the confluence of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers, on the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and flows from there north-westwards into the southern remnants of the Ural Sea.
The river forms part of our country’s northern border with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan and has a flow of about 70 cubic kilometers per year on average.
Just few days ago, the country’s authorities signed a contract with a Chinese company to extract oil from the Amu Darya (river), one of the most important economic plans that would help the country get rid of importing a wide quantity of oil exported from aboard.
The grand ceremony was attended by the Islamic Emirate’s senior members including Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Beradar and Shaikh Shahabuddin Delawar acting minister of Mine and Petroleum and Chinese Ambassador to Kabul, Wang Yi in the country’s capital Kabul.
According to reports from the meeting, over 540 million U.S. Dollars are expected to be invested in the mega project, with the first three years of exploratory.
The project with the three years exploratory period which covers three northern provinces of the country, such as Sar-e-Pul, Jawzjan and Faryab provinces, would help extract at least 1,000 to 20,000 tons of oil.
In case of the project’s success to develop its job with the pledged principles, the country would use its own extracted oil and get rid of long needs from foreign countries.
As the China’s ambassador to Kabul, said, the two sides should work and cooperate closely to lead the project into a successful Afghan-Chinese model of cooperation and help the poverty-stricken country use its own products.
On the other, the Chinese side, which has the support of government institutions, should extract the oil based on international standards.
Under the contract, Afghanistan will get a 20 percent share in the project and as reports indicates, 15 percent in its profit which will go up to 75 percent in the coming years.
In the meantime, the 25-year-long project which is expected to provide work for more than 3,000 people directly and indirectly, would help other investors to develop their businesses in the country.
Security of the project, considering some ongoing vicious activities, is also a must, considering some vicious activities.
Both countries should do their best to fully ensure security of the most important and vital project.
Amu Darya oil extraction another step towards self-sufficiency
