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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zonder who wrote (7034)	2/10/2003 12:11:41 PM
From: jlallen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

Can you read...? Your proof proves Brumar's point....Ain't gonna be no pipeline....

To: zonder who wrote (7034)	2/10/2003 3:43:15 PM
From: BubbaFred	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

One report indicated huge amount of natural gas and some (not much) oil.

To: zonder who wrote (7034)	2/10/2003 5:07:10 PM
From: Alastair McIntosh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

You seem to be confused. There was no oil pipeline to be built. Pakistan entered into an agreement to buy gas from Turkmenistan. The pipeline would have delivered gas under the Turkmenistan/Pakistan agreement. Unocal was the lead contractor in the consortium that would have constructed and operated the pipeline. Unocal withdrew from the project in 1998 and has stated several times that they have no further interest in the project. Do you have any evidence showing that Unocal has indicated renewed interest in the project? Construction of the pipeline will benefit Afghanistan as well as Turkmenistan and Pakistan. No reason why a U.S. company should not be involved in the construction. Also, you can spin the election of Karzai any way you want but he was elected by a Loya Jirga convened under U. N. auspices. This link lists the members of the Special Independent Commission that convened the Loya Jirga: eurasianet.org

To: zonder who wrote (7034)	2/10/2003 8:13:40 PM
From: Brumar89	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

I don't think you read far enough into the article. Unocal - which led a consortium of companies from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Japan and South Korea - has maintained the project is both economically and technically feasible once Afghan stability was secured. "Unocal is not involved in any projects (including pipelines) in Afghanistan, nor do we have any plans to become involved, nor are we discussing any such projects," a spokesman told BBC News Online. The US company formally withdrew from the consortium in 1998. news.bbc.co.uk So you see your article says Unocal was once involved in a consortium but withdrew in '98 and has no intention to get involved again. That potentially would leave all the other companies in the consortium to go ahead on their own, but regarding our subject here, you will note that none of those are American. Hey maybe the pipeline will get built someday. I wish them luck. The country doesn't have much in the way of assets. Afghanistan will have to become stable first, though - more stable than it is now. If there is regime change in Iran someday, that route may be seen as better.

To: zonder who wrote (7034)	2/10/2003 9:07:33 PM
From: BubbaFred	Respond to of 25898

Afghanistan's oil, nat gas, coal, gemstones, and opium. The Soviets had estimated Afghanistan's proven and probable natural gas reserves at up to 5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in the 1970s. Afghan natural gas production reached 275 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) in the mid-1970s. The Djarquduk field was brought online during that period boosted Afghan natural gas output to a peak of 385 Mmcf/d by 1978-79. However, sabotage of infrastructure by the anti-Soviet mujaheddin fighters limited the country's total production to 290 Mmcf/d, an output level that was held fairly steady until the Soviet withdrawal in 1989. After the Soviet pullout and subsequent Afghan civil war, roughly 31 producing wells at Sheberghan area fields were shut in pending the restart of natural gas sales to the former Soviet Union. Soviet estimates from the late 1970s placed Afghanistan's proven and probable oil and condensate reserves at 95 million barrels. Oil exploration and development work as well as plans to build a 10,000-bbl/d refinery were halted after the 1979 Soviet invasion. A very small amount of crude oil, about 300 barrels per day (bbl/d), is produced at the Angot field in the northern Sar-i-Pol province. Besides oil and natural gas, Afghanistan also is estimated to have 73 million tons of coal reserves, most of which is located in the region between Herat and Badashkan in the northern part of the country. Although Afghanistan produced over 100,000 short tons of coal annually as late as the early 1990s, as of 2000, the country was producing only around 1,000 short tons. Energy Infrastructure at a Glance Oil Angot Oilfield Produces a small quantity of crude oil; located in Sar-i-Pol province Natural Gas Sheberghan Area Gas Fields The Djarquduk, Khowaja Gogerak, and Yatimtaq natural gas fields are all located within 20 miles of Sheberghan. Pipeline to Mazar-i-Sharif A pipeline connects these natural gas fields to Mazar-i-Sharif. Gas is used for a small power plant, a fertilizer plant, and domestic use. Local pipelines Small local pipelines near the natural gas fields distribute natural gas in small quantities to nearby villages and Sheberghan Electricity Kajaki Dam Located in Helmand province near Kandahar; transmission lines to Kandahar repaired in early 2002, after being damaged by airstrikes in November 2001. Mahipar Dam Installed capacity of 66 MW. Near Kabul. Operational but currently lacking adequate water. Naghlu Dam Installed capacity of 100 MW. Operational. Provides most of the electricity used in Kabul. Darunta Dam Installed capacity of 11 MW. Operational. In Nangarhar province near Jalalabad. Sarobi Dam Installed capacity of 22 MW. Dahla Dam Kandahar province. Operational. Mazar-i-Sharif Power Plant Small natural gas-fired power plant near Mazar-i-Sharif, partially operational at under 30 MW. eia.doe.gov ------------------------------------------- geopubs.wr.usgs.gov This inventory of more than 1000 mines and mineral occurrences in Afghanistan was compiled from published literature and the files of project members of the National Industrial Minerals project of the U.S. Geological Survey. The compiled data have been edited for consistency and most duplicates have been deleted. The data cover metals, industrial minerals, coal, and peat. Listings in the table represent several levels of information, including mines, mineral showings, deposits, and pegmatite fields. --------------------------------- By the year 2000, the country was the source of 70 per cent of all the illicit opium produced in the world. Following a decline in 2001, production resumed at high levels in 2002, again making Afghanistan the world's largest producer (followed by Myanmar and Laos), accounting for almost three-quarters of global opium production. unodc.org