A newly formed consortium of Afghan and Turkish companies is set to kick-start Afghanistan’s next phase of economic growth by transforming the country’s gas sector.

In June 2014, three leading companies joined forces to submit a bid for natural gas exploration, development, and production in Afghanistan’s Faryab Province. Each company brings a unique set of assets to the proposal: Turkiye Petrolleri A.O. (TPAO), the national oil company of Turkey, has 60 years’ experience in international hydrocarbon exploration, drilling, production, and marketing; Calik Enerji, a Turkish energy company, has been active in oil and gas exploration and production throughout the Middle East since 1998; and Bayat Energy, part of the Bayat Group, combines extensive knowledge of the local territory with the American-trained ingenuity of its founder, entrepreneur Ehsan Bayat. All three companies look forward to bringing jobs to and spurring economic growth in Afghanistan while building a long-term partnership between Afghanistan and Turkey.

Should exploration efforts prove successful, the consortium plans to invest in new technology to construct pipelines connecting the northern gas fields of Afghanistan with pipelines in Turkmenistan. In addition to being sold internationally, gas produced from the fields will help provide a new supply source for the local Afghan market, thus helping to launch new gas-fired industries throughout the country.