The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum on Thursday said that excavation is close to completion at one of the two gas wells located at Yatim Taq gas field in northern Jawzjan province. 

Extraction will be started soon after the final stage of the excavation, said the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum.

“In Jawzjan province, excavation and extraction had started on A32 AND A36 (gas) wells. Fortunately, natural gas was discovered in the A32 gas well,” said Abdul Qadeer Mutfi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum. 

The natural gas from the well is expected to be supplied to some local companies such as Ghazanfar Group and Bayat Power Company. 

“With the absence of gas, we couldn’t manage to invest in some other sectors,” said Sakhi Ahmad Paiman, the deputy head of Afghanistan's Chamber of Commerce and Mines. 

“We call on the government to take the necessary measures for the transfer and refining of gas,” Afghanistan Mineral and Natural Resources Monitoring Network member Ibrahim Jaffari. 

The completion of both wells is expected to result in the extraction of 800,000 cubic meters of gas daily.