Afghan Oil Reserves 'Bigger Than Thought'

Alexander Kliment, Washington
London Financial Times
March 16, 2006

Afghanistan's untapped oil and natural gas reserves may be much bigger than previously thought, according to the results of a survey by the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the Afghan Ministry of Mining and Industry. The survey shows that two northern regions could contain as much as 1.5bn barrels of oil and 1,560bn cubic feet of natural gas. The figures represent the mean of several estimates of unproven reserves. The higher range of Afghanistan's unproven oil reserves roughly matched Sudan's reserves, USGS said.