The issue of necessary downstream investment is not addressed in the bidding round. While there is no formal obligation on the Contractor to invest in downstream facilities or other infrastructure, such investments may be desirable from the point of view of the Contractor. To the extent that a Contractor invests in downstream infrastructure (e.g. treatment plants, refinery, transportation or distribution pipeline systems), the economics of such construction projects may need to be evaluated on a standalone basis.

The First Afghan Hydrocarbon Bidding Round is maintained as an objective, transparent and competitive bidding process. Hence, subjective elements are kept out of the evaluation criteria, and there is no question of preferential treatment in the bid selection process.