Afghanistan Energy Profile 2012

1. Energy Overview
2. Energy Infrastructure at a Glance
3. Energy Transit

Natural gas is the only natural resource produced in large amounts. There are deposits of various other minerals but little production, mainly because a lot of of the deposits are in remote locations and adequate transportation is lacking.

Energy Overview

Between the 1960s and mid-1980s, the Soviets had identified additional than 15 oil and gas fields in northern Afghanistan. Only three gas fields—Khwaja Gogerdak, Djarquduk, and Yatimtaq—were developed in the area surrounding Sheberghan, which is located about 120 kilometers west of Mazar-i-Sharif. Afghan natural gas production reached 275 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) in the mid-1970s. The Djarquduk field was brought online during that period and boosted Afghan natural gas output to a peak of 385 Mmcf/d by 1978. About 100 mmcf/d of this amount was used locally in gas distribution systems in Sheberghan and Mazar-i-Sharif inclunding at a 100,000 mt/y urea plant located near Mazar-i-Sharif oil field, Angot, was developed in the late 1960s, but aside from production tests, oil production was intermittent, with daily outputs averaging 500 b/d or less.

Northern Afghanistan has proved, probable and possible natural gas reserves of about 5 Tcf. This area, which is a southward extension of the highly prolific, natural gas-prone Amu Darya Basin, has the potential to hold a sizable undiscovered gas resource base, especially in sedimentary layers deeper than what were developed during the Soviet era. Afghanistan’s crude oil potential is additional modest, with perhaps up to 100 million barrels of medium-gravity recoverable from Angot and other fields that are undeveloped.

Outside of the North Afghan Platform, very limited oil and gas exploration has occurred. Geological, aeromagnetic, and gravimetric studies were conducted in the 1970s over parts of the Katawaz Fault Block (eastern Afghanistan – along the Pak border) and in the Helmand and Farah provinces. The hydrocarbon potential in these areas is thought to be very limited as compared to that in the north.

At its peak in the late 1970s, Afghanistan supplied 70 to 90 % of its natural gas output to the Soviet Union's natural gas grid via a link through Afghanistan as well discussed possible natural gas supply arrangements with

Soviet estimates from the late 1970s placed Afghanistan's proven and probable oil and condensate reserves at 95 million barrels. Most Soviet assistance efforts after the mid-1970s were aimed at increasing natural gas production. Sporadic gas exploration continued through the mid-1980s. The last Soviet technical advisors left Afghanistan in 1988. After a brief hiatus, oil production at the Angot field was restarted in the early 1990s by local militias. Output levels, however, are thought to have been less than 300 barrels per day (bbl/d). Near Sar-i-Pol, the Soviets partially constructed a 10,000-bbl/d topping plant, which although undamaged by war, is thought by Western experts to be un-salvageable.

Petroleum products such as diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel are imported, mainly from Afghanistan.

Besides oil and natural gas, Afghanistan as well is estimated to have 73 million tons of coal reserves, most of which is located in the region between Herat and Badashkan in the northern part of the country. Although Afghanistan produced over 100,000 short tons of coal annually as late as the early 1990s, as of 2000, the country was producing only around 1,000 short tons.

In addition to commercial energy, Afghanistan utilizes such traditional, "non-commercial" energy sources as wood. According to a study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), additional than 85 % of Afghanistan's energy needs are met by such traditional fuels, but this has led to critical deforestation in the country.

Afghanistan, including Mazar-i-Sharif and Herat. This arrangement was affirmed in an agreement signed in August 2002 between the Karzai government and Afghanistan province of Kunduz, although power supplies were expected to halt in October 2003. Afghanistan, in some areas directly adjacent to the Afghan-Iranian border in Herat, Farah, and Nimroz provinces. Reportedly, Afghanistan's Herat province from Khorasan.

Energy Infrastructure at a Glance

Energy Transit

Due to its location between the oil and natural gas reserves of the Caspian Basin and the Indian Ocean, Afghanistan has long been considered a potential pipeline route. However, in the near term, there are several obstacles to building a pipeline across Afghanistan. During the mid-1990s, Unocal had pursued a possible natural gas pipeline from The Asian Development Bank has sponsored a feasibility study of the project by the British firm Penspen, which was completed in January 2005. The study indicates that the TAP is promising. The study envisions a 56-inch diameter pipeline, with a design capacity of 1.16 Tcf per year. The pipeline would start in Afghanistan