Afghanistan says finds 1.8 bln barrel oilfield

KABUL, (Reuters) – Afghanistan said yesterday it had  discovered an oilfield with an estimated 1.8 billion barrels in  the north of the war-ravaged country, where U.S. and other  foreign forces are trying to tame a Taliban-led insurgency.  

The discovery of the basin between northern Balkh and  Shiberghan provinces was made after a survey conducted by  Afghan and international geologists, said Jawad Omar, a  spokesman for the ministry of mines. 
 
“I do not know its price in the market. But the initial  survey says there are 1.8 billion barrels of oil and I think  there will be more than what it is estimated,” he told Reuters.  

Various estimates of Afghanistan’s hidden wealth have been  made in recent years, but the challenge of exploiting the  resources in a country at war and with little mining  infrastructure is daunting for most investors.
  
Omar gave no more details on how the estimates were made  but said the country will offer the reserves for development  along with other minerals in the coming months.
  
Afghanistan hopes that untapped mineral deposits valued at  $3 trillion could help reduce the need to rely on Western cash  for bankrolling its impoverished economy and for its soldiers  to maintain security when foreign troops draw down numbers.  

But ravaged by three decades of foreign interventions and  civil war, the central government now faces the Taliban  insurgency and relies on foreign forces for control of many  parts of the vast Central Asian country. 
 
The U.S. Department of Defence estimated earlier this year  that Afghanistan’s mineral resources could top $1 trillion, but  experts say the fragile security situation could delay seeing  the benefits of this wealth for years. 
 
Omar said an earlier plan for the tender of a 1.6 billion  barrel Afghan-Tajik oil block in early 2011 was still on track.

He said Afghanistan will retender by year-end a deposit of  iron of 1.8 billion tonnes it had scrapped earlier this year  due to the global recession and changes in the world markets.