CNPC nears Afghanistan oilfield deal
- By He Shan
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China.org.cn, September 7, 2011
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China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) is?poised to?win a bid for an oilfield to be tendered in Afghanistan. |
China's largest oil company China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) is likely to win a bid for the first oilfield to be tendered in Afghanistan since the U.S. invaded the country a decade ago.
The project, which is comprised of three sectors in the Amu Darya Basin, has also attracted bids from energy companies from Australia, Britain and Pakistan.
"CNPC outbid the other companies," Jalil Jumriany, head of policy and promotion at Afghanistan's mining ministry, told the Financial Times. "It depends on how the negotiation goes, and then the final winner will be chosen."
Jumriany said CNPC agreed to pay a 15 percent royalty on each barrel of oil, pay 30 percent of profits in corporate tax, and build a US$300-million refinery.
A CNPC spokesperson declined to comment on the bid, but London-based Tethys Petroleum said Sunday that CNPC has won the project.
A spokesman at Afghanistan's mining ministry said that if CNPC fails to reach an agreement with the ministry on details within a month as of Sept. 12, Australian Buccaneer Energy will replace CNPC.
The three sectors of the Amu Darya Basin include five proven oilfields, with estimated reserves of 80 million barrels of oil, according to figures from the Afghanistan Ministry of Mining.
The oilfield is expected to yield oil by the end of 2014, a report by the Independent, a British newspaper, said.
China's business press carried the story above on Wednesday.
