Uh Oh... Afghanistan Oil Reserves Mapped

The USGS recently worked with Afghanistan to survey that nation, revealing significant stores of fresh water, non-fuel minerals, oil and gas. The survey was accomplished via flyover using sophisticated equipment due to the mountainous terrain of the country. The same mountainous terrain complicates extraction, increasing risks and costs.

The resulting data is meant to inform investors and policymakers in developing Afghanistan’s economic base. Yet considering the outcome of proposed product sharing agreements of oil in Iraq, which would only marginally benefit the Iraqi people and then not equally based on sect, it is unclear whether renewed US interest in Afghanistan’s resources should be considered a good thing for Afghanis.

Product Sharing Agreements are contracts with international extraction corporations that provide the signing country with the infrastructure and expertise to extract their resources, while the contractor gets a share (often hefty) of the profits. Afghanistan is also the key to a natural gas pipeline connecting the Iranian oil reserves in the Caspian Sea to India. The pipeline will pass through Afghanistan and is poised for Russian approval.

The USGS study coincides with a possible increase of US troops in Afghanistan, ostensibly to make up for withdrawn NATO troops. The latest Afghanistan surge would bring troop levels up to post 9/11 levels.

Read more at Science Daily

Photo by USGS