Sunday, September 30, 2012

Exxon yet to inspect Afghanistan's biggest oil project: minister

KABUL (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's biggest non-state oil company, has not yet accepted an offer to look over a new Afghan oil concession in the country's north, possibly indicating a fading appetite to invest in the conflict-wracked country.

As Afghanistan's government finalizes new laws designed to attract more foreign mining investment, Mining Minister Wahidullah Shahrani told Reuters that Exxon had not turned up for a site tour which closes on Sunday, despite being shortlisted with eight other firms for the Afghan Tajik tender near Mazar-e-Sharif.

"Hopefully at some point they (Exxon) will visit the area. But that visit is not mandatory," Shahrani said in an interview late on Saturday in his Kabul office. A spokeswoman for U.S.-based Exxon said she could not immediately comment.

Exxon's July expression of interest in the Afghan Tajik basin, which holds an estimated 1.9 billion barrels of oil, lent credence to hopes that Kabul may be making progress in efforts to lessen its reliance on aid, through untapped resources worth as much as $1 trillion, despite an ongoing insurgency.

Shahrani said that with an October bid closure deadline looming, shortlisted companies had been invited to inspect the area and meet local community leaders, an offer which closes on September 30, and which would usually be accepted.

"Some companies, they have already visited, some companies are about to visit the area," he said. "Those companies, most of them are well established in the region."

Chinese and Indian companies are already scrambling to lock in access to Afghanistan's mineral wealth, most estimates of which date back to U.S. surveys carried out decades ago. The country has large deposits of gold, copper, iron ore and oil, as well as lithium and rare earths used in high-tech manufacturing.

Chinese firms are leading the race, with China Metallurgical Group (MCC) and Jiangxi Copper winning a 2007 deal to exploit the giant $3 billion Aynak copper mine southeast of the capital Kabul.

MAJOR INTEREST

Exxon's interest fuelled hopes that U.S.-based majors may also compete, despite worries over security and endemic graft, adding urgency to a push for new laws designed to make resource investment more attractive as foreign combat troops withdraw.

Shahrani's ministry will soon resubmit to President Hamid Karzai's cabinet mining laws that Afghan officials and Western donors hope will persuade foreign firms to invest in the country's resources, but which were rejected in July over concerns they were too generous to miners.

The re-draft, backed by Western donors and the World Bank, would remove a 2009 clause separating exploration from an automatic license to exploit finds, a law which led miners to question why they were spending their money on expensive and risky exploration if they could not be assured of profiting.

"It created a lot of discomfort among the potential mining companies and global investors," Shahrani said.

"We have made the provision that whoever gets the license for exploration through the tender, once they conduct the exploration, if they find a deposit to be commercially and economically viable, their exploration license will be automatically converted to an exploitation or production license."

Miners and Western diplomats have not managed to convince the government to include fixed royalty payments in the re-drafted law, though Shahrani admitted that some resources firms thought it lead to greater confidence in planning.

"In the new draft law, we have not mentioned that, and we will leave that to be determined in the bidding process," he said.

Instead, the overhaul would commit the government to more transparency by publishing contract details in local and international newspapers, as well as on its own website, to counter perceptions of graft in Afghanistan's notorious kleptocracy.

The draft laws, he said, should go to Karzai's cabinet in three to four weeks before a November vote in the fractious parliament, where lawmakers have in recent months been testing their muscle with Karzai, sacking key security ministers.

Some political analysts have also speculated that Shahrani's problems with the law's initial draft may have been linked to political rivalries over control of potential resource profits.

YEARS UNTIL PRODUCTION

Shahrani said he was optimistic opposition to the laws had faded in cabinet, and that parliament's influential economics and resource committees were also positive about the legislation, which was drafted with World Bank help.

"We have been interacting very closely with parliament's relative committees. I can see a significant degree of support on behalf of the members of those committees," he said.

Despite the risk of global commodity prices falling as a result of concerns about the strength of the Chinese economy and a global economic slowdown, Shahrani said he believed Afghanistan had not missed the peak of the resource boom.

Most projects in Afghanistan, he said, including bids for northeastern gold concessions in Badakhshan now being considered, would take years to reach production.

"If we do award the concessions tomorrow for iron ore and copper, usually it takes at least five to six years for these deposits to get developed," he said. "We hope that by then the demand for commodities will again increase."

(Additional reporting by Jessica Donati in KABUL; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exxon-yet-inspect-afghanistans-biggest-oil-project-minister-114153660--finance.html

breaking news whitney houston carmen whitney houston last performance cpac straw poll breaking dawn part 2 breaking dawn part 2 whitney cummings

Uk Loan Credit Card Debt Management posted an update: Uk Loan Credit Card Debt Management .. and costs of [?]

Uk Loan Credit Card Debt Management

.. and costs of debt management services.. UK consumer credit.. the credit record but adds debt loan.. .. Debt management plans, or an overdraft or credit card debt .. .. consolidation services for UK residents of UK debt.. Through bad credit loans bad credit loans.. Debt Management Debt management is a plan that will help .. Find out how debt management can help you consolidate your credit cards or loans.. Learn how debt.. Debt Management 101 How to reduce your credit card debt, debt reduction .. .. does not mean you need to take out a loan, which is the debt.

thousands of Americans are facing credit card debt problems.. We help you with debt settlement, debt management, and .. Credit card debt consolidation in the UK managed to solve debt problems with debt consolidation, debt consolidation loans with a low in April .. Credit card debt management can help solve your credit card debt problems.. Debt Management Credit Card Debt Management UK .. .. A debt management company, debt counseling, debt management services, such as a credit card.. keep covered ? Chiltern Debt Management, UK gilts .. .. card debt management, debt management, credit cards and manage your credit card debt from the UK debt management.. .. Mobile No: Email: Loan Amount: Loan Type:.. Help yourself get debt free with professional and responsive credit card debt management uk.. Surname: Tel.. No: Mobile No: Email: Loan Amount: Loan Type:.. Articles Payday Loans: Credit Card Debt Management ? to manage credit card debt .. Take our ultimate lender competition .. The low cost of our services.. Get Answers Faster at Ask.com .. The debt.. Get the facts before it is too late .. Credit Card Debt \\ u0026 More! Find results for credit card debt.. We can help solve the problem of debt, credit card debt management, debt management UK low rate.

Related Tags:

direct plus loan application
bad credit unsecured loan immediate approval
uk car loan credit finance
texas credit union portfolio loan
bad debt unsecured loan credit
california home equity loan credit
consolidation direct loan tennessee
direct payroll loan direct
unethical credit practices car loan
bad credit unsecured loan us
apply bad credit loan student
auto loan with 605 credit score
adverse bad credit from loan mortgage mortgagesonthenet
unsecured loan poor credit history
6 payday loan without direct 9
bad lifornia credit loan personal money
bad credit secured personal loan
loan with 605 credit score
loan credit default
loan bad debt credit debt counseling non profit debt.
0e11dfd28c 14

.. Debt consolidation, debt counseling, debt management, debt.. Manchester, London, Birmingham, United Kingdom.. Credit card debt consolidation loan could provide people with little debt .. A professional credit card debt management can help you.. monthly payments on the loan.. If debt management.. Many organizations in the UK to provide debt management .. Loans can be a great idea for paying off high-interest credit card debt.. Learn about debt reduction and budget, through loans as a tool for smart money management .. .. instant credit card debt management solutions with debtmanagementmania.. Also featuring uk credit card debt management, debt management advice, debt consolidation loans .. Yahoo! UK \\ u0026 Ireland Answers.. It is wise to take a personal loan to pay off credit card debt? Going to debt management / credit counseling .. Debt consolidation loans from Barclays and information.. Areas you might want to consider creating your dept management plan outlined Barclays.co.. uk.. Credit .

Source: http://www.thegeekgirlproject.com/activity/p/2359/

appeasement ian stewart ian stewart odom vt vt los angeles angels

NNCNOW: NFL Referees Approve Eight-Year Labor Deal: Irving, TX (Northland's NewsCenter) --- The NFL Referees' Associatio... http://t.co/T3d9q74m