Chinese company’s oil deal with the Taliban government increases the economic and security cooperation between Kabul and Beijing, which “will undermine U.S. interests in the region and the ability to respond.”, Analysts say.
Early this month, the Taliban signed the extraction contract of the Amu oil field with the Chinese company- China Petroleum Economics and Information Research Center (CPEIC) in the northern Afghanistan-Amu Darya basin, raising alarm bells in the west.
The signing ceremony took place on January 5 in the presence of Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu, the Acting Minister of Mines and petroleum of Afghanistan, Shahabuddin Delaware, and other senior Taliban figures, including Abdul Ghani Baradar, the acting deputy Prime minister for economic affairs.
The amount of investment will be more than USD 500 million with 20 % of Afghanistan’s share, and the oil extraction capacity is estimated from 200 to 1000 tons a day; expected that 3000 jobs will be created for Afghans inside the country.
This is the first significant energy investment by the Chinese company since the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August 2021.
Experts believe that such an agreement and investment by a Chinese company increases the economic and security cooperation between Kabul and Beijing, which “will undermine America’s interests in the region and the ability to respond”, wrote Sajoyan, a researcher at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, and reported by ANI.
Despite the growing terror threat and the recent attack on Chinese business travelers, Beijing signed the major oil riches field in Afghanistan.
According to a Washington-based analyst, China wants to address the rising demand for crude oil. Meanwhile, there is a security concern about the several Uyghur separatist movements labelled as terrorist groups by the United Nations and the U.S. Department of State.