Sheberghan Gas Generation Activity (SGGA) Monthly Report on Data Collection Progress

The program, led by Advanced Engineering Associates International, Inc. (AEAI), involves the preparation of reserve estimates for up to seven natural gas fields in the Amu Darya Basin. The fields, which are State-owned and controlled by the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP), were discovered by Soviet state companies in the 1960s and 1970s. The available geological, geophysical, and well data for the fields date from before 1989, with most of the data in Russian and limited information in Dari. However, there are more recent well test reports in English for four wells in the Yatimtaq field and four wells in the Gerquduq field, resulting from a 2013 re-entry program. The natural gas from the fields is sour, requiring processing beyond the capacity of the small uncommissioned amine plant in the area to render it fuel/pipeline quality. Reserve estimates are needed to attract private investment for the development of central gas gathering and gas processing facilities, as well as a proposed 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. The threshold question for foreign investors and financial institutions will be whether there are sufficient economically recoverable reserves to supply gas to the gas processing plant and its anticipated principal customer(s), the power plant(s), for 25 years. AEAI worked with the MoMP, Afghan Gas Enterprise, Afghan Geological Survey, Afghanistan Petroleum Authority, and the Oil and Gas Survey to collect the available data and documents on the fields and to have the data scanned. More than 25,000 pages of data and documents from multiple sources were collected, organized, and scanned and will be made available to the firm awarded the subcontract. In November 2015, AEAI issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to the four shortlisted firms that had earlier expressed an interest in participating in a competitive tender to enlist the services of a qualified engineering firm. The RFP provided that proposals had to be received not later than 5 P.M. Kabul time (UTC + 4:30), on December 3, 2015. Three of the shortlisted firms submitted proposals on or before December 3, while the fourth firm declined to submit a proposal due to concerns about complying with Federal Acquisition Regulations. The proposals were circulated to the members of the AEAI evaluation committee for review, and upon review, AEAI found some conditional, ambiguous, or incomplete responses. As a result, AEAI sent out a Request for Clarifications to each of the three firms submitting proposals, suggesting a December 18 schedule to discuss by telephone with each individual firm the clarifications requested.