Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 4 / Trend T. Jafarov /
Afghanistan is very rich in various natural resources. A large part of this wealth is not used, including iron, copper, gold, such rare element as lithium, construction materials, marble and other mineral resources, Minister of Mines and Petroleum of the Republic of Afghanistan Wahidullah Shahrani said in an interview with Trend today.
"Six oil and gas deposits have been discovered in Afghanistan up to now," he stressed. "The work is still underway at some of these deposits. As an example, one can cite Amu Darya oil field. "China's CNPC is operating at this field and it has already begun exploiting it. Turkish Corporation TPAO and Dragon Oil company from the UAE will begin drilling exploratory wells in the Afghan-Tajik oil field, located in the north of Afghanistan soon. An international tender for drilling operations at the North Amu Darya largest gas field will be announced in two weeks."
"This issue was discussed with the Azerbaijani representatives at today's talks and Afghanistan invited Azerbaijani companies to participate in this tender," he added. "This mainly concerns the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), which has great experience.
"SOCAR has broad financial and technical opportunities and we are interested in their using," he added.
"At present, the companies from China, the UAE and Turkey mainly invested in Afghanistan's oil and gas sector.
As for the issue of staff training, Shahrani said that many Afghan students got education in Azerbaijan in 1980s. Currently, most specialists of the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum are the graduates of the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy.
"Today, we have discussed this issue during the negotiations with the Azerbaijani counterparts," he added. "The Azerbaijani side has assured us that it is ready to accept students and specialists from Afghanistan and to educate them. The number of students will increase every year. We believe that our students will learn Azerbaijan's experience in oil and gas sphere."