The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, through the Ministry of Mines & Petroleum, is seeking Expressions of Interest to participate in an open, transparent and competitive tenders of each bidding area for the right to explore for, develop, and produce hydrocarbons in the Kushka Zone-1,2 & Tirpul of the Kushka Tirpul Basin of north west Afghanistan. The Tenders will be conducted in accordance with the Hydrocarbon Law of Afghanistan and is expected to result in the award of Exploration and Production Sharing Contracts (“EPSC”) by the first quarter of 2024, with the preferred bidder to be announced in March 2, 2024.

The Kushka and Tirpul blocks cover an area of approximately 23,395 square kilometres, mainly associated with Kushka zone and Tirpul basin which shares international borders with  Turkmenistan and Iran to the Northwest and West, respectively. The Kushka zone of folds is an anticlinal zone in southernmost Amu Darya Basin that lies on the western plunge of the ParapamizBande-Turkistan range (Ulmishek, 2004; VNIGNI, 2005b). The Tirpul Basin is transpressional basin located in western Afghanistan, extending from near Herat in the east, to the Iranian border in the west. The basin is generally bounded on the north by the Safed-Koh Anticline and on the south by the Herat/Hari Rud Fault Zone (USGS – Assessment of Undiscovered Petroleum Resources of Southern and Western Afghanistan, 2009). Exploratory wells, gravity and magnetic assessments has shown a good reserve of hydrocarbons, which needs further investigations.

The Bidding area is divided into 3 different sections i.e., Kushka Zone-1, comprise of 3 blocks (Kuska 1,2 & 4), Kushka Zone-2, comprise of 4 blocks (Kushka 3,5,6 & 7) and Tirpul, comprise of 4 blocks (Tirpul 1,2, 3 & 4) respectively.

Prospective Structures in the Kushka Tirpul Basin with Proposed Seismic Lines

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