Afghan Govt. Stunned By Apparent Exxon-Mobil Withdrawal From Planned Tajik Basin Project

[hatrack]

With foreign aid set to decline and Nato forces soon to withdraw, what hope there is in Afghanistan lies under the ground. But much of those mineral riches are likely to remain out of reach for the near future. Last week, the apparent exit of ExxonMobil from the group of companies vying for oil rights in the Tajik Basin signalled waning appetite among top-tier investors to take on operations in a place with deteriorating security, a lack of infrastructure and a reputation for corruption.

"It is difficult to see Afghanistan benefiting from the exploitation of its natural resources in the near or medium term," says Claudine Fry, the regional analyst for Control Risks, a risk consultancy in London. "The extraction of oil in large quantities is a long-term prospect at best given the security, political and operational challenges facing investors."

The apparent indifference of the world's largest non-state oil company is a bleak sign for a country with an uncertain future.

EDIT

So when the Afghan mining ministry announced in July that ExxonMobil was among the companies shortlisted to bid for a Tajik Basin concession, it was a ray of hope for the fledgling oil sector. Until then Afghanistan had awarded only one concession, to China National Petroleum Corporation and a company controlled by relatives of the president Hamid Karzai half a year earlier. That mood changed last week, when Wahidullah Shahrani, the mining minister, revealed that ExxonMobil had not taken up an invitation to visit the concession area. With the deadline to submit bids at the end of this month, the statement was taken as a sign that not just ExxonMobil but other western oil majors would shy away from Afghanistan. ExxonMobil declined to say if it had visited the site or if it intended to bid.

EDIT

http://www.thenational.ae/business/energy/afghanistan-reels-from-exxon-blow

[Iggy]

1. Whatever....

EU nations', China, Russian companies are ready to step into the void.. and offer Afghanistan
much better deals.

[Demeter]

2. Exxon is pissed that Uncle Sugar won't be providing perpetual security

Our blood for their oil profits.

[Iggy]

3. BINGO!

and it appears we're supposed to provide (free) security for the gigantic copper mine in
Afghanistan- run by Chinese companies.

again, it's all about real estate-- in this case, the commodities in the ground.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Yep.

Bet exxon is SO hoping that Romney Hawk gets elected.