Work on Jawzjan-Balkh gas pipeline project begins

KABUL (Pajhwok): A gas transmission pipeline is being constructed in northern Afghanistan, says the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP).

The ministry announced on Sunday the pipeline would carry gas from Shiberghan, the capital of Jawzjan, to Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh.

Acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum Shahabuddin Dilawar and several other officials attended the inaugural ceremony in Shiberghan.

The 94.5-kilometre pipeline is being built at a cost of 609 million afghanis. It will supply gas to fertiliser, power producers and glass makers.

The pipeline would start supplying gas to residential houses in the near future, local officials said.

Delawar said the government-funded pipeline project would be completed in three years. About 52 years ago, he added, a pipeline had been constructed but that had become old.

It would transfer 170,000 cubic metres of gas daily from Jawzjan to Balkh.

mud