Humayun Afghan, the spokesperson for the Taliban's Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, announced that the group has sold 130,000 tons of crude oil from the Amu Darya basin for USD 71.6 million over the past ten days.
He added that an additional 20,000 tons of crude oil will be put up for bidding on Sunday.
In a post on the X social media platform, this Taliban official claimed that this is the first time 150,000 tons of crude oil have been sold in Afghanistan within two weeks. Previously, the Taliban's Ministry of Mines and Petroleum had stated that Afghanistan, with a daily requirement of 50,000 barrels of oil, currently imports almost all of its needed fuel from neighbouring countries such as Iran and Uzbekistan.
However, in December of last year, Bloomberg reported that China’s Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co. had tripled its crude oil production in Afghanistan. According to the Taliban, the drilling of new wells will generate approximately USD 500 million in annual revenue for the group's government.
Under the terms of the contract, the Chinese company will invest $150 million in the first year and $540 million over the next three years to explore five oil and gas blocks covering an area of 4,500 square kilometres in northern Afghanistan.
