Africa-APPO 2022: Didier Budimbu pleads for better support for tenders for 16 oil blocks in the DRC
In anticipation of the launch of calls for tenders for the acquisition and exploitation of 16 oil blocks, the data of which are already available, the Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons, Didier Budimbu, pleaded with his African peers from the Organization of African oil producers for better support for these operations scheduled for July 28 and 29.
The Congolese Minister, Didier Budimbu, seized the opportunity of the 8th Conference of African Producing Countries (APPO), to plead for a balance between continuing to work for the protection of the global ecosystem whose Congo plays a big role and the desire to see the DRC considerably increase the exploitation of its hydrocarbon resources. These are currently only exploited at less than 5%. Hence the process initiated by his ministry of calls for tenders, taking into account the fact of not submitting blocks located in protected areas to tenders.
The DRC, he recommended, must be able to count on its resources for its development, i.e. nearly 66 billion m3 of methane gas in Lake Kivu, but also various other potentialities of associated gas on the Atlantic coast, and of course oil geo-located in three (3) sedimentary basins where 16 blocks whose technical data have been provided will be used when they are granted in order to increase production.
It is important to specify that two important resolutions were taken by the Council of Ministers members of the APPO, namely the creation of an African Petroleum Bank and the holding in the DRC of a major summit of the Heads of State members of this organization in the second half of this year.
This 8th edition, which opened its doors on Monday, May 16, 2022 at the Continental Hotel by the Angolan President, Joao Lorenco, focused the work on the energy transition.
It should be noted that long before taking his flight to the country of Joao Lorenco, the Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons had presided over the ceremony of presentation and official handover of the technical data of the sedimentary basins of the Central Basin and Graben Tanganyika.
