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Bloomberg
The Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan signed its first international contract to extract oil from the northern Amu Darya basin as the beleaguered group seeks to increase revenue.
The agreement with a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), was inked in Kabul in the presence of Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan, Wang Yu, and the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
The pact will “strengthen Afghanistan’s economy and increase its level of oil independence,†Baradar said at
the signing.
Wang, whose country does not recognise the Taliban government, said the 25-year contract will support Afghanistan’s push for self-sufficiency.
Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co will invest as much as $150 million in the first year and $540 million over the subsequent three years to explore five oil and gas blocks, said Shahabuddin Delawar, the acting minister of mines and petroleum. The blocks are located in a 4,500-square-kilometre (1,737.5 square mile) area in northern Afghanistan.