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This January 5, the first international oil extraction contract was signed in Kabul, reports the BBC. A $750 million check that will allow Beijing to search for oil in northern Afghanistan and give the new Afghan regime both the foreign investment and international exposure it needs.
The agreement signed this Thursday between the Chinese company Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co (CAPEIC) and the Taliban will allow CAPEIC to drill for oil in the Amu Daria basin in Afghanistan, according to the BBC.
Benefits for the Taliban
On paper, the Taliban have won everything. Since the capture of Kabul, they have been looking for new money, and there will be. The contract provides for a 15% royalty for the Afghan regime for 25 years.
They also wanted new infrastructure and China has promised to build Afghanistan’s first refinery. This will also provide employment. According to the Taliban authorities, 3,000 local workforce will be involved in the project.
To a self-sufficiency of the Afghan economy
But above all, the new masters of Kabul are proving that their strategy works. As much as they roll back on women’s rights, reinstate stoning, deny their commitments to the Americans in February 2021, it doesn’t matter: It will be the first major energy extraction deal with a foreign company since the Taliban took over. control of the country in 2021.
The Chinese national oil company, which has been operating in Afghanistan since 2012, does not want to give up its market share, and it does not matter who is in charge. The virtue of this contract, according to the Chinese ambassador present at the signing, is to direct the Afghan economy towards self-sufficiency.
