$30 Million Oil Refinery Begins Operations in Afghanistan’s Sar-e Pul

DID Press: An oil refinery with an investment of $30 million has begun operations in Afghanistan’s northern Sar-e Pul province, with a daily processing capacity of 600 tonnes of crude oil.

Officials at the refinery said the required crude oil is supplied from the Amu Darya oil basin, including the Qashqari, Zamrudsay and Angot wells. The crude is processed into diesel, petrol and mazut.

Hasibullah Amirzai, the refinery’s finance and administration manager, described the use of domestically produced crude oil as an important step toward increasing Afghanistan’s domestic petroleum production.

Technical officials said the refining process is carried out in accordance with government standards and that more than 100 people have been employed at the facility.

Afghanistan currently requires around 10,000 tonnes of petroleum products per day. Officials hope that expanding domestic production capacity will help meet part of the country’s demand.