DRC: tenders for 27 oil and 3 gas blocks,made available to investors
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the countries with considerable oil and gas potential that is still under-exploited. Its crude oil resources are estimated at more than 22 billion barrels of oil and 66 billion standard cubic meters of gas located in Lake Kivu.
These statistics were revealed by Didier Budimbu, Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons, during a press conference organized this Tuesday, July 26, 2022, in anticipation of the official launch of the first phase of calls for tenders relating to the allocation to investors in 27 oil and 3 gas blocks located on Lake Kivu.
These 30 blocks, oil and gas, selected by the Congolese Government will be the subject of calls for tenders, the official launch of which is scheduled for July 28 to 29, 2022.
Faced with the women and men of the national and international press, the Minister Didier Budimbu swept aside all the concerns related to these calls for tenders which aroused great interest in public opinion.
According to Didier Budimbu, ” the Congolese Government is not a seller of its oil and gas blocks” . On the contrary, he explains, the Government of the DRC grants the right of exploitation to whoever wants to exploit the oil and gas potential available to the country.
Didier Budimbu said that this approach is part of the dynamics of industrialization and development of the DRC, through the exploitation, transformation and enhancement of its various natural resources in an eco-responsible way.
In terms of crude oil resources, Didier Budimbu indicated that these resources are estimated at 22 billion barrels of oil and 66 billion standard cubic meters of gas located in Lake Kivu.
“These calls for tenders will enable the DRC not only to develop its oil and gas industry but above all to contribute to the socio-economic development of the Congolese populations through its impact in terms of job creation, the supply of electricity to improve the lives of many households. In addition, investments of various kinds that will be recorded in the production sharing contracts will allow the development of infrastructures, particularly those of a social nature. »said Minister Didier Budimbu
To date, the Democratic Republic of Congo exploits only 4.5% of the potential of its hydrocarbons with in particular the exploration-production in Moanda by the company PERENCO estimated at around 22,000 barrels of oil per day.
In its vision to make Hydrocarbons one of the key sectors for the diversification of the economy, the Congolese Government aims to achieve a production of 200,000 barrels per day.
Despite the low exploitation of oil and gas resources, the Hydrocarbons sector contributes 7 to 8% to the general budget of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
To do this, the Congolese Government is taking all measures to ensure that this process respects environmental protection standards.
It is this framework that the Ministry of the Environment and that of Hydrocarbons have multiplied exchanges to ensure compliance with environmental standards in the selection of 27 oil and 3 gas blocks for this first phase of calls for tenders.
