Key oil refinery being constructed in north

KABUL): An oil refinery, a $700 million (36.3 billion afghanis) project, is being established on the Amu River fields in the country’s north, an official said on Sunday.  

The facility would have the capacity to purify 60,000 barrels of oil a day, revealed Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA) chief Wafiullah Iftikhar.

He told reporters in Kabul that the project to be funded by the Afghan-American Oil Company would help make Afghanistan self-sufficient in oil purification.  More than 36,000 people would find jobs when the scheme was launched, he hoped.

The proposed oil refinery was expected to start functioning in 2016, according to Iftikhar, who called the venture as blessing in the face of the country’s chronic economic challenges. The plant would help Afghanistan avoid taking oil for purification to Turkmenistan, the AISA chief said.

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