Afghanistan: Five qualify for license round

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 18 -- The Afghanistan Ministry of Mines said five companies qualified to bid in a tender of blocks in the Amu Darya basin in northern Afghanistan.

The tender process is expected to result in the award of a contract by the end of July 2011. The companies are Buccaneer Energy of Australia, CNPC International Ltd., the Petroleum Exploration (Pvt.) Ltd. subsidiary of the Shahzad Group of Pakistan, Schlumberger Ltd. of France, and Tethys Petroleum of the UK.

Afghanistan tentatively plans to hold several tenders in the next few years. Northern Afghanistan is the country’s first exploration priority because the geology is similar to that of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.