Kabul, May 06: The Asian Development Bank has approved a technical assistance grant to help Afghanistan draw up a master plan to exploit its underused gas resources, the Manila-based bank said today. The bank said Afghanistan had large known gas reserves of about 120 billion cubic metres and a possible further 1,000 billion cubic metres at a deeper level. "Despite these reserves, gas availability is grossly inadequate to meet needs, mainly due to the loss of production facilities and the high rate of leakages," the bank said in a statement received here.
"These represent not only a loss of revenue but also a major safety hazard." The 950,000 dollar technical assistance grant is to undertake a review of the energy sector and prepare a gas sector development master plan that would guide and promote development of Afghanistan's gas infrastructure in the next 10 years, the bank said.
"Natural gas has great potential in Afghanistan, as there is a significant gap between demand and supply. In addition, it has the least negative impact on the environment compared with other fossil fuels," said ADB senior energy specialist Najeeb Jung. Preparation of a gas development master plan would help realise the maximum economic benefits from natural gas and provide a blueprint for the development of associated infrastructure, Jung said. Bureau Report