New Delhi: Saudi Arabia’s Delta International Energy signed a contract with the Taliban government’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum on Monday to explore oil and gas extraction in Afghanistan’s west, marking a significant win for the largely isolated and investment-starved Taliban regime.
One of the talking points was the presence of Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US Special Representative for Afghanistan, at the event. That said, history suggests contemplation as previous deals involving the Chinese came to naught twice under Taliban rule.
Delta CEO Shaher Al-Taqi and Taliban Mines and Petroleum Minister Hidayatullah Badri signed the latest deal in the presence of Afghanistan Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdul Ghani Baradar, Da Afghanistan Bank Governor Noor Ahmad Agha, and Islamic Emirate spokesperson Zabibullah Mujahid.
According to a statement by Baradar on X, the Saudi company will initially invest $200 million in the exploration and extraction of seven gas blocks in the Kushk area of Kushk-Tirpul oil basin, which is located between Herat and Badghis provinces and covers an area of approximately 22,000 sq km.
Delta’s news release stated that the integrated energy programme could bring in $50 billion in investment over 25 years. Delta later referred to an estimated $60 billion in potential investment over 10 years across exploration, field development, gas utilisation, pipeline infrastructure and related facilities, reported the Afghanistan-focused AMU TV.
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Khalilzad’s long shadow
While the investment itself caught the attention of observers, Khalilzad’s presence fuelled online speculation over whether the deal hinted at something bigger than oil and gas exploration, and more critically, in what capacity the former US diplomat was attending.
“I do not see Khalilzad’s presence at the ceremony simply as a photo-op. His involvement potentially signals an effort to connect the Taliban with international investors and to create confidence around Saudi interest in Afghanistan,” Afghan journalist Sami Yousafzai, who’s been covering the country since 1994, told ThePrint.
A US State Department spokesperson told Afghanistan International that Khalilzad is not a US government employee and, therefore, he is carrying out all his activities in a personal capacity.
Khalilzad reportedly described the signing of the agreement as a “positive and promising development” and an indication that Afghanistan is ready for business and large-scale investment. He had travelled to Kabul a few days before the signing and had met Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
نن د ا.ا.ا د بهرنیو چارو وزیر محترم مولوي امیر خان متقي سره د افغانستان لپاره د امریکا متحده ایالتونو پخواني ځانګړي استازي ښاغلي داکتر زلمي خلیلزاد وکتل.
په دې ناسته کې په افغانستان کې د اوسني وضعیت، بیلابیلو برخو کې د شته فرصتونو په تړاو خبرې وشوې. همداراز د افغانستان او امریکا… pic.twitter.com/c8kVa9OBOW
— حافظ ضياء احمد تکل (@ZiaAhmadtkl) September 5, 2026
This wasn’t the first time Khalilzad was present at a meeting between Delta and Taliban officials. There are reports from last year of a meeting involving Delta CEO Al-Taqi, Khalilzad, and Baradar.
Besides being known for his controversial role in facilitating the 2020 Doha Agreement that eventually brought the Taliban back to power, Khalilzad was previously associated with US-based oil company Unocal. Unocal Corporation is listed as one of Delta Energy’s partners from 1991 to 1998 on the latter’s official website.
I do not see Khalilzad’s presence at the ceremony simply as a photo-op.
— Sami Yousafzai
In the mid-1990s, Unocal jockeyed for the Taliban’s support to build a pipeline running from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan. The company flew a Taliban delegation to Texas in 1997, and the same year, the Central Asia Gas Pipeline, Ltd. (CentGas) consortium was established, in which Unocal had the largest stake followed by Saudi’s Delta Oil. However, following al-Qaeda’s 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa and the retaliatory strikes in Afghanistan, Unocal pulled the plug.
In a 1996 op-ed for The Washington Post, Khalilzad made the case for US re-engagement with the Taliban after the Soviet withdrawal, noting, “The Taliban does not practice the anti-U.S. style of fundamentalism practiced by Iran – it is closer to the Saudi model.”
Three decades later, Khalilzad appears to be facilitating close cooperation between the Taliban and Saudi models.
“We should use as a positive incentive the benefits that will accrue to Afghanistan from the construction of oil and gas pipelines across its territory,” he suggested in WaPo, adding that “the United States should encourage others states…including our regional friends such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, to work together for the same objectives”.
In his observations about the Afghan-born former American diplomat, Yousafzai said, “I don’t think Khalilzad represents US endorsement.” No American and European investment has been offered to Taliban yet, he added.
“Khalilzad’s Afghan-Pashtun background has given him a degree of credibility and access with Afghan actors, including the Taliban. His longstanding relationships with senior Taliban figures, particularly Mullah Baradar, have made him an unusually well-connected intermediary,” he explained.
At a ceremony in Doha, Qatar, a deal known as The Agreement To Bring Peace To Afghanistan between the United States and the Taliban was signed by U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban leader Mullah Baradar Abdul-Ghani. https://t.co/4jGFSp0vvO pic.twitter.com/VW05YT7kqj
— Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (@RFERL) February 29, 2020
Pictures from the Doha Agreement show Baradar and Khalilzad signing the agreement and subsequently shaking hands.
Khalilzad’s presence was more than symbolic. “But it is still too early to call it a breakthrough. The real test will not be the announcements, but whether actual capital is committed, contracts are signed, projects begin and investors remain willing to put their money at risk in Afghanistan,” Yousafzai asserted.
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China out, Saudi in
In 2025, the Taliban cancelled a 25-year oil extraction contract in the Amu Darya basin with China’s Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co. (CAPEIC). Signed in 2023, it was the largest Chinese investment in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, but was terminated after the Taliban cited the company’s failure to meet its obligations.
There is past precedent of such failures, even under previous Afghan administrations.
Back in 2011, state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Watan Group, its Afghan joint venture partner, had signed a similar 25-year contract with then-Afghanistan government to develop the same Amu Darya oil basin, but that had come to a naught too.
Now, Saudi’s Delta Energy is stepping into the vacuum. Ongoing initiatives in its portfolio like the ‘Afghanistan Integrated Gas Development Program’ are also targeted at the Amu Darya basin. Another effort is dubbed as the “CENTGAZ – The Corridor of Prosperity”, which aims to position Afghanistan as an “indispensable energy transit state”.
From CentGas in the 1990s to CENTGAZ today, Delta is once again betting on high-risk Afghan pipelines. Delta had even expressed interest in investing in the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline, which can be hailed as the successor to the pipeline CentGas was looking to develop.
Yousafzai told ThePrint that Khalilzad could become an important broker in opening doors that the Taliban cannot open, but he cannot eliminate structural risks. For that reason, interpreting the signing ceremony as evidence that billions of dollars of investment are about to enter Afghanistan warrants caution.
“The key question is can access and personal relationships actually translate into serious, long-term investment?”
“The investment challenge is, therefore, bigger than finding who can introduce the Taliban to investors. China initially showed considerable enthusiasm about Afghanistan’s economic potential, but much of that has cooled. Russia has also increased engagement, but major investment has remained limited,” Yousafzai added.
Obaidullah Baheer, an Adjunct Lecturer at the American University in Afghanistan, felt the agreement was a good precedent to set given the circumstances.
“It’s a good sign seeing more Muslim countries get involved as well as Western allies, considering there was an assumption that there was gatekeeping from the US and its allies being wary of investing in Afghanistan,” he told ThePrint.
“This is a good precedent to set, especially since China and the eastern world was already thinking of getting into Afghanistan’s energy and mining sector.”
Saudi Arabia was one of only three countries—along with Pakistan and the UAE—to officially recognize the first Taliban administration from 1996 to 2001. This time around, Riyadh has moved more cautiously, engaging with the Taliban on humanitarian grounds, and when conflict has escalated between Pakistan and Afghanistan, stepping in as an intercessor.
Saudi’s engagement, Yousafzai said, has to be viewed “carefully”. “Since 2021, Riyadh has maintained relations with the Taliban, but Afghanistan has not appeared to be among Saudi Arabia’s foreign-policy priorities. Saudi policymakers also have to consider their broader regional relationships, including with Pakistan.”
Riyadh may want to see how this pans out
and how they can leverage it
— Ramu CM
Ramu C.M., a geopolitical risk specialist at Bayer with specialization in hydrocarbon geopolitics across Central Asia, the Caspian region and West Asia, was of the opinion that the Saudis could be testing the waters.
“The government’s involvement might be plausible, given that members of Delta International Energy’s founding family are connected to Saudi’s security establishment and the Sudairi Seven. But this remains a conjecture. Riyadh may want to see how this pans out and how they can leverage it,” he told ThePrint to a query on whether there is tacit endorsement from Saudi Arabia.
Baheer highlighted that similar deals were signed in the past but failed due to corruption or security concerns, “which the Taliban has now brought under control”.
“There are economic opportunities here in Afghanistan. The West in the past has invested and engaged with partners that have had bad records on human rights. But as long as it meant mutual financial benefit, they did invest,” the Afghan academic said.
“But it’s pretty early to talk about this Saudi deal. We will have to wait and see how manufacturing and processing conclude after the exploration phase ends. All in all, it’s good news for Afghans.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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