The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo appears to be rejigging a plan to auction off the rights to drill for oil and gas in 30 blocks across the country. On October 11, Congo’s hydrocarbons minister announced he had cancelled the auction of 27 oil blocks, citing late submissions, inappropriate or irregular offers, and a lack of competition. The announcement makes no mention of three gas blocks.
The news was of some relief to environmental and human rights groups locally and abroad. In July 2022, Congo’s government said it would begin auctioning off the rights to drill in the 30 blocks. Congo’s existing oil operations have, to date, been limited to its western Atlantic coastline and offshore. But the 2022 call for tenders created the possibility of massive new fossil fuel production across vast swathes of climate-critical forests and peatlands. Many of these areas are home to rural communities, including Indigenous peoples, who said that they have not been consulted.
Compounding these concerns, the Congolese government announced in May 2023 that it had begun negotiations with neighboring Uganda to connect some of the oil blocks in eastern Congo with the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), a 1,443-kilometer pipeline being built to connect western Uganda’s oilfields with the Tanzanian coast. Human Rights Watch has documented rights violations related to EACOP’s land acquisition process in Uganda, including inadequate compensation for landowners, as well as the Ugandan government’s crackdown on anti-fossil fuel activists and environmental defenders.
The hydrocarbons minister’s announcement has not quelled concerns. Some 135 organizations—more than half from DR Congo—have joined a campaign called Notre Terre Sans Pétrole (Our Land Without Oil), which calls for a permanent end to these plans. As the groups point out in a statement today, the minister’s cancellation is only partial, as the government has flagged that a new “restricted” tendering process is slated to launch shortly. No further details were provided.
The massive expansion of oil and gas production in the Congo would threaten rights and worsen the climate crisis. Notre Terre Sans Pétrole is right to call on the government to permanently cancel all new oil and gas projects and urge a halt to any new initiatives in this sector.
