Recall the story reported in Vue Weekly last October:
"Three Canadian companies have recently been involved in attempts to bid
on two gas fields and one oil field as part of the First Afghan
Hydrocarbon Bidding Round. At least one of the gas fields is expected
to feed into the TAPI pipeline."
The Wall Street Journal reported today:
"Afghanistan to Delay Awarding Concessions for Mineral Deposits':
"Afghanistan plans to delay awarding concessions for a major iron ore deposit and sizeable oil and gas reserves as part of a broader effort to stamp out corruption, the country's finance minister said. The move by Afghanistan could upend the plans of Total SA, [Canada and] Swiss-based Addax Petroleum Corp. and Canada-based Nations Petroleum Co., all of which were among the seven finalists selected last year for oil and gas blocks in the country's northwest...[Afghan-Canadian Finance Minister Omar] Mr. Zakhilwal would not directly say whether he believed bidding for any of the projects - the iron ore deposit, the oil and gas reserves and scores of other smaller mineral deposits — had been marred by bribery, kickbacks or other forms of corruption." [WSJ]