The Afghan-Tajik Basin, located in the south of the country, continues into Afghanistan and is proven productive by several fields including the Shaambary oil field adjacent to the capital Dushanbe and the Akbarshadir oil field and Kyzyltumshuk gas field some 100 kms to the south. Basic infrastructure exists in the form of a gas line from the Kyzyltumshuk field to Dushanbe the capital.  Most of the fields in the region are old, discovered between 1940 and 1970, and produce from the Palaeogene and Chalk reservoirs from depths of less that 1500m. The field reserves are modest from the horizons encountered although the wells only drilled through the upper part of the prospective section having reached productive units. The reserves produced from these fields were often lower than originally prognosed due to poor reservoir management and completion difficulties.

Currently within this basin more than 50 prospects have reportedly been identified by the Tajik authorities (Figure 2). These prospects comprise a mix of play types and are of varying maturity in terms of drillability. Some include structures that are un-drilled and mapped generally from surface geology or little poor quality seismic data while others would involve the testing of deeper targets that already have proved productive at shallower levels e.g. the Kyzyltumshuk field. Either way the need for a modern approach including 3D seismic data acquisition and modern drilling technology is clearly paramount and would enhance a future exploration programme.