Opening of Proposal from Orient Petroleum International Company

 
A bid opening ceremony took place at the conference hall of the Ministry of Mines on Feb 23, 2010.  At the ceremony, Mr. Waheedullah Shahrani, the Minister of Mines while talking about the transparency in evaluation process of bid proposals, said: “Fortunately as in other countries, Afghanistan observes the principle of transparency in all bidding and evaluation of mineral exploitation proposals.  Besides being transparent this government incorporates concern for the environment, income for the government, jobs for the people, and other services like transport in its evaluations of bids, which are then sent as part of normal process,  to the Presidential Office, Parliament and Civil Community for further consideration.”
The Minister went on to say that the Ministry of Mines had undertaken international bidding for Jangal Kalan, Juma, and Bashicoard Gas blocks and also the Kashkari Oil block last year.  The documents for these bids were prepared by Norwegian experts.  Mr. Shahrani said: “after the road show in Dubai, London, Huston, Calgary and Singapore, publicizing the resources of these blocks, 11 companies submitted expressions of interest of which 8 companies were shortlisted.  From these 8 companies, Orient Petroleum International went on to submit a formal offer to the Ministry of Mines. “
An important stage in the process of international bidding is evaluation of the offers.  Consistent with the Hydrocarbon Law and Procurements Law of Afghanistan, this will done by the Ministries for Finance, Economics, Foreign Affairs and Mines, and National Environment Office with the support of international experts till 23 March 2010, said Mr. Shahrani.
The Minister of Mines said:”Contracts will only be signed, if the bidding documents are accordance with the appropriate standard".  If the level of investment required is above a given level, the contract will be sent to Parliament for approval.”
Mr. Shahrani added “It is important to keep in mind that according to the Terms of Reference for the bidding process, companies which bid for the Oil Blocks must have 100 million dollars of capital,  pay three million dollars as security, accept the Hydrocarbons Law and Regulations, the Income Tax Law and the Environment Protection Law.