A look at the oil and gas industry of Afghanistan

Abstract

Afghanistan is one of the oil and gas-rich countries in the world, especially Asian countries. Also, one of the reasons for the periodic developments and instability of Afghanistan's political currents is the presence of hidden and even untouched mines, especially oil and gas. Oil exploration in Afghanistan dates back to the 1950s, when in 1958, Afghan and Soviet experts conducted a topographic and geological survey in the northern provinces of Afghanistan, then two years later announced the discovery of oil and gas in the cities of Sheberghan, Sar-e-Pul and Faryab. Oil and gas play a vital role in the sustainable development of a country, because they provide the main energy sources and have a wide impact on the economy, technology and environment. Proper exploitation of these resources can lead to economic growth, job creation and improvement of people's living standards. On the other hand, the importance of oil and gas in sustainable development leads to a balance between economic exploitation and environmental protection. The main objective of this article is the importance of oil and gas in defining Afghanistan’s position in the world, especially in Asia. The research method in this study is considered by separating the research and statistical perspectives, which was selected from the perspective of the development goal, from the perspective of the qualitative method, and from the perspective of the nature of the data, descriptive-analytical. In this study, a questionnaire was distributed to experts, specialists in the oil and gas field, graduates of this field, and university professors and analysed with SPSS software. The results of this study showed that Afghanistan is in the category of rich and mineral-rich countries; but a suitable percentage has not yet been used to provide community facilities and government self-sufficiency. The reason for this is political instability, lack of relative security, lack of technical and skilled personnel, and also the lack of technical facilities for mining. Fortunately, recently, necessary investments have been made in the extraction of oil and gas mines in the northern provinces of the country (Jawzjan and Sar-e-Pul).