Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - "When will the Democratic Republic of the Congo finally begin to benefit from its oil resources?" asks the Congolese newspaper "Le Potential" in an article in which it stressed that all States in the Great Lakes Region, except the DRC, have taken concrete steps in the exploitation of gas and oil which, according to recent estimates, are found in abundance in the area.
As the Congolese Parliament is still debating the law on hydrocarbons, which should provide the legal framework of the commercial exploitation of gas and oil in the national subsoil, Congo's neighbors have already reached agreements with foreign oil companies. Uganda has signed an agreement with a Canadian company to exploit the oilfield of Lake Albert, which stretches along the border between Uganda and the DRC. On the Congolese side of the deal with the same company has been stopped. Burundi has granted several licenses for exploration in Lake Tanganyika to different companies. In this case, as well, the deposits are found along the border between the two countries. Tanzania has also allowed some exploration licenses on its side of the lake.
On the western side, there was a serious dispute with Angola for the exploitation of a field in the common area shared by Luanda and Kinshasa in the Atlantic Ocean. The oil dispute between Angola and the DRC has resulted in the expulsion of Congolese immigrants from Angola and Angolans living in Congo, with dramatic human consequences (see Fides 22/10/2009).
The delay of the Congolese politicians in approving the hydrocarbon laws and in negotiating oil contracts is causing a major loss of revenue in national coffers. Currently, the DRC is at 68th place amongst the oil producing countries. Its daily production is 25,000 barrels: 15,000 on dry land and 10,000 offshore, for a value of approximately $ 300 million a year. If the oil fields discovered to date (probably there are others to be discovered, especially in the east) were exploited, the Congo could make more than a billion dollars a year. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 5/11/2009)
