Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 26 / Trend F.Milad/
Afghan parliament has authorized Mines Minister Wahidullah Shahrani to sign a contract with China for oil exploration in the Amu Darya region, a major river in Central Asia, Trend reported referring to the Office of the Spokesperson to the President of Afghanistan.
China National Petrochemical Corporation will ink the deal with Afghanistan's Vatan Group Company. The region's proven oil reserve is about 87 billion barrels. The Chinese company will pay 15 percent of the extracted oil as royalty and 20 percent as finance to the Afghan government.
This is the first comprehensive contract on oil exploration and extraction in Afghanistan, which also includes construction of an oil refinery.
There are six large oil and gas fields in Afghanistan, namely Amu Darya, Afghan Tajik, Kashke, Heart, Ketwaz and Helmand.