News
$10bn Afghanistan Gas Pipeline Proposal Could Extend Toward Pakistan Border
By Mariam Khan
Real Estate Analyst
4 min read
Saudi Arabia's Delta Energy Group signed a series of energy agreements with Afghanistan's Ministry of Mines and Petroleum in Kabul on 8 September 2026, including a framework for a proposed 700 kilometre gas pipeline referred to as CentGas, the Corridor of Prosperity, intended to run from western Afghanistan toward the region bordering Pakistan. Delta Energy estimates the pipeline alone could require approximately 10 billion dollars in investment over a decade.
What Was Actually Signed
The agreements cover the Kushk and Tirpul contract area in Herat, spanning roughly 23,317 square kilometres, under which Delta Energy will conduct geological and geophysical studies, seismic surveys, exploration drilling, and reservoir evaluations to determine the actual scale and commercial potential of the underlying hydrocarbon resources. The package also includes a dedicated natural gas utilisation study for Herat Industrial Park and Herat city itself, separate from the pipeline proposal. Former US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad attended the signing ceremony in Kabul, adding a notable geopolitical dimension to what is otherwise a commercial energy agreement with Afghanistan's Taliban administration.
Why the Pipeline Is Explicitly Conditional, Not Committed
Delta Energy has been direct about the pipeline's current status: construction depends on successful exploration first confirming sufficient gas reserves exist, followed by technical and economic feasibility studies, financing, regulatory approvals, and an eventual final investment decision. None of these steps have been completed. The company has described the pipeline as something to be evaluated as a potential strategic energy corridor, language that reflects an early stage proposal rather than a committed infrastructure project with a confirmed timeline.
The Much Larger Programme This Pipeline Sits Within
The 10 billion dollar pipeline estimate is only one component of a considerably larger integrated programme Delta Energy has outlined, potentially representing between 50 and 60 billion dollars in total investment across exploration, field development, gas utilisation, and related infrastructure over a 25 year period. Afghanistan's government has described the broader programme's potential total value as reaching as high as 50 billion dollars over that same period. Every stage beyond the initial exploration work remains explicitly subject to exploration results, commercial viability, and subsequent investment decisions, meaning the pipeline component specifically sits several conditional steps away from the programme's already large but still uncommitted headline figures.
Why This Isn't Afghanistan's First Attempt at a Pipeline of This Kind
The broader ambition of building a pipeline corridor connecting Afghanistan's gas resources through to South Asian markets is not a new concept. A similar Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline proposal, running a comparable route through Herat, Farah, Helmand, Nimroz, and Kandahar provinces before entering Pakistan through Balochistan, has been under discussion in various forms for decades, with a feasibility study dating back to 2002 and an estimated total project cost around 25 billion dollars at that time. That earlier project's own history, spanning more than two decades without full completion, is a useful reference point for how long regional pipeline proposals of this scale can take to move from agreement to actual delivered infrastructure, if they are delivered at all.
What Remains Genuinely Unconfirmed
No exploration results, feasibility study outcomes, financing arrangements, or regulatory approvals specific to the CentGas pipeline proposal have been completed or announced. The precise route toward the Pakistan border, and any actual engagement or agreement with Pakistani authorities on receiving or connecting to this pipeline, has not been detailed in the agreements signed this week, which remain focused on the Afghan side of the project.
What This Means for Pakistan's Border Region and Industrial Property
At this genuinely early stage, there is no immediate property market impact from this announcement, and readers should treat it accordingly. If the project does eventually advance through exploration, feasibility, and financing to an actual final investment decision, cross border energy infrastructure of this kind could eventually affect industrial land demand and energy availability in Pakistani border areas connected to the pipeline's eventual route, following a pattern broadly similar to how other cross border and domestic pipeline projects have supported industrial activity elsewhere in Pakistan. Given how many conditional steps stand between this week's signing and any actual construction, and given the decades long history of comparable regional pipeline proposals not reaching completion, this is a story worth tracking over the coming years rather than one carrying any near term implication for Pakistani property or industrial development decisions.