SGGA Monthly Report on Data Collection Progress

The program is focused on seven natural gas fields located in Jawzjan Province in the Amu Darya Basin. These fields, discovered by Soviet state companies in the 1960s and 1970s, have available geological, geophysical, and well data dating back to before 1989, primarily in Russian with limited information in Dari. Recent well test reports in English for four wells in the Yatimtaq field and four wells in the Gerquduq field were obtained as a result of a 2013 re-entry program. The natural gas from these fields is sour, containing high concentrations of H2S and CO2, requiring processing beyond the capacity of the small uncommissioned amine plant in the area to render it fuel/pipeline quality. Reserve estimates are necessary to attract private investment for the development of central gas gathering and gas processing facilities, as well as a 200 MW gas-fired electrical generation facility near the city of Sheberghan. Additionally, a 50 MW gas-fired power plant is to be constructed at Mazar-e-Sharif and supplied from the fields. Foreign investors and financial institutions will require detailed reserve estimates that comply with internationally accepted petroleum engineering and evaluation principles and conform to the concepts, definitions, and standards of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS). Advanced Engineering Associates International, Inc. (AEAI), the prime contractor for the SGGA program, has been working to obtain the necessary authorization from the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) to access and use the data related to the fields. AEAI received the Agreement for Access to and Use of Data, and Confidentiality of Data (Confidentiality Agreement) signed by the Minister of Mines and Petroleum under date of June 28, 2015, and the directive to MoMP divisions to cooperate with and assist AEAI in gas field technical data access and gathering signed by the Minister under date of July 12, 2015. AEAI has completed a revised Request for Proposal (RFP) for subcontracting petroleum engineering services for gas field data evaluation and reserve estimates and sent the draft RFP to USAID for review and comment. Once armed with the authorization letter from the Minister, AEAI began the collection of available data held by the MoMP, its operating divisions, and staff. Meetings were held with the Afghan Petroleum Authority (APA) and the Afghan Geological Survey (AGS) to arrange coordination for data collection for the gas reserve studies.