Govt, Turkish company ink contract for drilling 2 gas wells

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) and a Turkish company on Saturday signed d a contract for drilling two gas wells in Yatim Taq area of northern Jawzajn province.

Acting minister Sheikh Shabuddin Delawar and Safir Sandraj company, representative Qadir Karkuch inked the contract worth $7.5 million in Kabul.

Delawar said four foreign companies participated in the bidding, but the Turkish Safir Sandraj company won it.

With the total cost to drill two gas wells reaching $7.5 million, the project will be completed in one year and the cost paid from the budget of the government, Delawar explained.

Each well will be drilled 1,650 metres deep and each has the production capacity of 150,000 cubic metre of gas per day.

According to his information, the previous government had inked contracts for drilling each gas well for $8.2 million.

Delawar said each well will generate $60,000 revenue for the government on a daily basis and hoped Afghanistan would become self-sufficient in the production of gas in the future.

He also said gas fields in western Herat province were spread over 23,000 square kilometers area and contract for their drilling will signed in near future.

Aw/ma