Afghanistan Signs Its First Oil Contract

[Warthogg]

1,859 of our finest have died to make Afghanistan safe for China to exploit Afghan oil.
I am sickened.


Wart

Afghanistan Signs Its First Oil Contract – With China
By SLOBODAN LEKIC, Associated Press
December 28, 2011

cnpc
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghanistan's government signed a deal Wednesday with China's state-owned National Petroleum Corporation, allowing it to become the first foreign company to exploit the country's oil and natural gas reserves.

The contract, which covers the northeastern provinces of Sari Pul and Faryab, is the first of several such blocks to be put on the market in coming months, Afghan Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani said during the signing ceremony.

Bidding information for blocks in neighboring Balkh province will be released at end of February, and for the western Herat province by next summer, he said.

The ministry listed the initial value of the project with CNPC as $700 million. But the total could be ten times greater if more reserves are found and developed, and if international oil prices remain at today's levels, Shahrani said.

The fuel pact allows the Chinese firm to research oil and natural gas blocks in Sari Pul and Faryab, an area known as the Amu Darya River Basin that was first explored by Soviet engineers in the 1960s. The Soviets estimated the reserves at about 87 million barrels, but both the Afghan and Chinese partners believe they will prove to be much larger.

CNPC will also build a refinery -- Afghanistan's first -- within the next three years, after the real size of the reserves is established with greater accuracy, said Lu Gong Xun, president of CNPC's international branch.

[mriddick]

It's a catch 22, we could of ignored bin laudin and the taliban after 911 and we'd never got a shot at their oil or we could of gone after bin laudin and the taliban which then made any American business too toxic to do business in Afghanistan. Either way we couldn't of gone after the oil so we might as well gone after bin laudin and the taliban.

Regardless oil is now a world market, any oil anywhere that comes on line lowers the cost of oil to consumers everywhere. Granted American companies aren't getting the profit but it's not like foreign based US operations pay US taxes to any great degree anyway.

[jojo]

If this does in fact happen, you will never hear the full scope of headless Chinese bodies in that region. Their corruption (Chinese and Afghan) knows no bounds and idividuals aren't worth a warm bucket of spit in either country.

[1 Patriot-of-many]

If I heard right before they have a bunch of mineral contracts too......I don't recall any Chinese troops in the coalition? Did I miss something?

[gungorilla]

I can imagine it's going to be fun trying to drill for oil in that shit hole.
Their infrastructure is total garbage, gotta have roads to move rigs and supplies around.
I'd love to see the chinese move a rig into there and try and drill. Wonder how many bullets and IEDs they'll have to dodge.

[raxar]

I can imagine it's going to be fun trying to drill for oil in that shit hole.
Their infrastructure is total garbage, gotta have roads to move rigs and supplies around.
I'd love to see the chinese move a rig into there and try and drill. Wonder how many bullets and IEDs they'll have to dodge.

probably not many, China tends not to have to many people whining when a couple dozen villages turn into ash piles.

[imanaknut]

All those who thought we fought for oil are now finding out that we fought for honor, and the reward was the Chinese got the oil that everyone said we were fighting for.

It's not as much the Afghans are thanking us by selling their oil to China, it is proof that we were not in it for the oil.

I just wish we would start drilling on our own land, and along with Canada tell the middle east to choke on their oil.

[chiak47]

Shit we owe China so much it's the least we could do....

[raxar]

Shit we owe China so much it's the least we could do....

my nominee for the Post of the Year award.

[Full Otto]

I just wish we would start drilling on our own land, and along with Canada tell the middle east to choke on their oil.

Then again,
http://news.yahoo.com/first-gas-othe...200739553.html
Measured in dollars, the nation is on pace this year to ship more gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel than any other single export, according to U.S. Census data going back to 1990.

[1 Patriot-of-many]

Then again,
http://news.yahoo.com/first-gas-othe...200739553.html
Measured in dollars, the nation is on pace this year to ship more gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel than any other single export, according to U.S. Census data going back to 1990.

We would be sending a lot more into the market if it wasn't for Obama and his EPA.

[Warthogg]

Still, the U.S. is nowhere close to energy independence. America is still the world's largest importer of crude oil. From January to October, the country imported...$280 billion.

Fuel exports, worth an estimated $88 billion in 2011......

Wart