Shahabuddin Delawar, the acting minister of mines and petroleum, said that a private company has been given the contract to extract 20,000 tons of crude oil from the Qashgari block of the Amu Darya region.

In an interview with TOLOnews, Delawar said that this company bought at a rate of one ton of crude oil for $540.

"A company won a contract for one ton of oil for $540 USD and offered a guarantee of $200,000; the transfer of that oil will begin. But, while the oil from the Angut oil field provided a cheap price and 7,000 tons of it were advertised, no agreement has yet been made,” Delawar noted.

Delawar further stated that this year the Chinese National Oil Company, which has the oil extraction contract of the Amu Darya oil field, will invest 162 million dollars.

"Nearly 80 million dollars will be invested in the oil extraction sector from ten new wells. With its implementation, it will increase the government's income and the amount of oil extraction will also increase,” Delawar said.

However, some economists believe that oil extraction and processing in the nation are good for the economy and will create jobs for the people.

“Oil will be extracted and will be processed inside the country. Without a doubt it will provide job opportunities for the people and also it will prevent the spending of millions of dollars which were yearly spend on the importing of oil from other countries,” said Mohammad Karim Azimi, executive director of the Kabul Chamber of Industries and Mines.

According to data from the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, the Amu Darya oil field has the potential to produce oil worth billions of dollars, and this ministry is trying to set up a standard oil refinery in the nation.