<http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/01/the-new-war-for-afghanistans-untapped-oil/267010/>
The New War for Afghanistan's Untapped Oil
Antonia Juhasz
JAN 10 2013
I am looking out the window as men in grey turbans run from my
building out onto the highway, their AK 47s at the ready. "There's
been an accident," my Afghan guide, Danish calmly tells me. "Someone
was just killed in the plaza here."
I am in Faryab province in northwest Afghanistan, which had been
considered among the more peaceful areas. "Was someone hit by a car?"
I ask. Danish pauses. The "Oh yes, she's American" look passes
quickly over his face before he replies, "Somebody was shot."
Within a few minutes we get a report from the secretary of Abdullah
Masoumi, the governor of Khoja Sabz Posh District, in whose office
we've been waiting for some time. It was the Taliban, he tells us,
and the victim was Commander Czhulam, a leading member of the
governor's security team and a former commander under General Abdul
Rashid Dostum, one of the country's most powerful warlords.
With the close of 2012, the Pentagon has revealed a disturbing trend
in Afghanistan: Taliban attacks remained steady, or in some cases
increased, over 2011 levels. I experienced the Taliban surge
firsthand this past November, and can offer a cause not cited in the
Pentagon's report: oil and gas.
I was there as part of a three week investigation into the growing
efforts of both the US and Afghan governments to develop
Afghanistan's oil and gas sector. I prepared my itinerary to include
what are supposed to be among the safest regions, and was traveling
alone with just a local guide and driver, my only "safety-gear" the
local clothing and black head covering I wore. As long as I kept my
mouth shut, with my dark hair and Middle-European heritage, I
regularly passed for a local. I was tracking an oil and gas trail
across Western and Northern Afghanistan. But so too, it became
increasingly apparent, are the Taliban.
I was to interview Governor Masoumi because his district sits atop
fields of natural gas in one of the most energy-rich provinces. As in
virtually all of Afghanistan, none of the fields are marked because
almost no natural gas or oil operations are taking place. I know the
fields are there because I am following a map of Afghanistan's oil
and natural gas riches produced by the United States' Government's US
Geological Survey (USGS).
My journey has uncovered a largely hidden battle being waged for
control of Afghanistan's fossil fuel resources. The Afghan and US
governments hope these resources will attract international oil
companies and raise badly needed income. The Taliban appear
increasingly bent on denying the fruits of the sector to their
rivals, be they local, national, or international.
As we leave Faryab, Danish warns, "If the Taliban catch us, throw
your camera out the window and pretend to be my deaf mute mother."
Two days later I'm in Jowzan province to the north of Faryab, waiting
at the gates of the Khoja Gogardak natural gas treatment plant, a few
miles from Sheberghan city. A lone guard sits nearby. Old, thin, and
short with a small grey turban and stark white beard, his AK-47 is
casually slung across his shoulder while two small "guard puppy" dogs
relax at his feet, enjoying the calm afternoon sun in the heart of
General Dostum's territory. His lackadaisical attitude is both quaint
and oddly reassuring.
Suddenly, Mir Hasan, head engineer of the facility, appears and
ushers us quickly inside. "There is a recent security situation which
is not good and the military will be here in a few minutes," Danish
translates.
Hasan had received word a few minutes earlier that his employees
working at a natural gas field behind the facility and just in the
distance (he points, we look) were attacked by the Taliban. "Right
here?!" I ask. "Yes," Danish confirms. Hasan politely reassures me
that he is happy to give me the tour of the facility, 90 percent of
which is outdoors and in full view of the just-attacked field, but
we'll have to be quick about it as the Afghan military is on its way.
"This just happened?!" I ask. "Yes, exactly," Hasan responds. "Has
this happened before?" I ask. "Mostly their attacks take place during
the night," he explains. "This is the first time that they have
attacked during the day."
I quickly recall that on the road out of Mazar-i-Sharif, the city
General Dostum calls home, Danish had been shocked to see a man on a
motorbike brazenly wearing the telltale-black turban of a Taliban and
brandishing his weapon in the middle of the day. It was the first
time either Danish or our driver had seen such a display in over ten
years.
"I think we better go," Danish tells me. I try to stall, hoping to be
there when the Afghan military arrive, but the men are anxious.
Engineer Hasan cannot yet report any details other than that when the
Taliban began shooting, his men got into their vehicles and fled the
area without apparent injury. "You are not very lucky," Hasan tells
me, as we say goodbye to him at the gate.
How right he was. I am standing in the middle of the street in
Sheberghan City waiting for Mohammad Chaari, commander of security
for the Amu Darya oil contract area awarded in 2011 to the China
National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in partnership with
Afghanistan's Watan Group. With two facilities operating in Sari Pul
Province south of Jowzan and east of Faryab, theirs is the only oil
production in Afghanistan -- although they currently ship their
entire product to Turkmenistan. Almost a week earlier, I had been
given a secret tour. (The Chinese no longer allow press onto the
facility, so I was snuck in.)
While we wait for Chaari, we overhear a conversation between him and
two CNPC engineers from Sari Pul. There has been a Taliban attack
near the facility, "large enough to call in air support." No one
would say more when asked, but Commander Chaari does tell me that his
security detail are about to be significantly increased.
We begin crossing oil and gas fields off my itinerary, deeming them
too "insecure" to visit, including oil fields very near to the city
of Mazar-i-Sharif and the entire province of Kunduz. "Insecure," I
have quickly learned, is code for "Taliban." As the director general
of the Afghan Oil and Gas Survey tells me, "There is nothing else
causing insecurity."
The US Pentagon is the de-facto lead US agency pushing the
development of Afghanistan's oil and gas sector. Jim Bowen, a Houston
oilman hired by the Pentagon to guide a November 15 international oil
and gas contract tender process, confirmed for me that these attacks
are in fact on the rise. "Certainly, as the [oil and gas] sector
develops, the sector is creating targets, there is no doubt about
that," Bowen tells me. "But exactly how one defines 'Taliban' is open
to interpretation."
Sitting in Kabul shortly before my departure, I speak with Javed
Noorani, extractive industries monitor for the Afghan NGO Integrity
Watch. He confirms Bowen's analysis: As the oil and gas sector draws
increasing public attention, so too have Taliban attacks grown. But
identifying who is supporting those Taliban, "be they Pakistani,
Iranian, or homegrown, is not so simple."
The result is clear, and far from unique to Afghanistan: As
development of the oil and gas sector has risen, so too has violence
and insecurity.
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