The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been struggling with the allocation of oil blocks lately. On June 2, the CNPAV (Coalition Congo N’est Pas à Vendre) organized a press conference denouncing the presumed opaque attitude of the Minister of Hydrocarbons Didier Budimbu in the process of selecting operators for certain oil blocks. The coalition demands total transparency, in order to avoid errors with heavy financial consequences which weigh today on the country because of the practices of opacity.
The CNPAV has identified four irregularities in the process of awarding and negotiating oil and gas blocks. First, the increase from 16 to 27 oil blocks without the approval of the Council of Ministers of this increase, which according to them constitutes a violation of article 61 of the Hydrocarbons Regulations and of the decision of the Council of Ministers of April 08, 2022. Then, the allocation of cazier blocks to companies without proven technical and financial experience. Also, the early renewal of the offshore of onshore oil Conventions of the operator PERENCO, in violation of article 189 of the law on hydrocarbons requiring that at the time of renewal, the project passes from the Convention to the sharing regime production.
Finally, the clandestine negotiation between the DRC and the Chinese state company China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), in defiance of the legal requirements relating to the call for tenders.
The CNPAV points out that such opaque procedures can unduly cost the Congolese people money. They expressed their desire for an effective exploitation of oil resources only after in-depth preliminary studies. The oil sector of the DRC must still undergo in-depth studies in order to ensure efficient and useful exploitation.
Thus, the DRC already faces a debt of 857 million dollars due to the complacent granting of oil blocks in the past, and this without this leading to the slightest certification of oil reserves.
The CNPAV called on the government to end “opaque negotiation practices that endanger the lives of present and future generations”. They recalled the need for transparency and accountability throughout the chain of decisions related to the exploitation of natural resources, in particular oil and gas blocks.