DRC-Oil: operating permits granted to companies linked to Dan Gertler declared expired and invalid
Didier Budimbu, Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons, in a correspondence dated June 16, announced that the permits to operate oil zones granted in 2010 to two companies linked to Dan Gertler for blocks 1 and 2 have expired.
This important oil field is located on the Congolese part of Lake Albert, near the border with Uganda.
These areas contain, according to expert estimates, more than a billion barrels of oil. The decision of the Congolese authorities comes when production has not yet started. The Minister asks these companies to transfer all technical data and pay the fees due under the contract. The Dan Gertler camp does not understand this measure and hopes that the Congolese authorities will reverse this decision. He accuses the Congolese side of not having played its part in the implementation of the production contract.
These operating licenses had been obtained, according to sources from civil society organizations, in an unclear manner. These Dan Gertler companies were registered when the contracts were signed in the British Virgin Islands.
