The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Minister of  Hydrocarbons, Mr. Didier Ntubuanga, recently announced that a major oil licensing round will be launched on 28 and 29 July 2022. With this round, the DRC Government plans to put up for offer 16 (sixteen) oil blocks, both in the Central Basin and in the Coastal Basin of the country. The DRC has produced around 22,000 barrels of oil per day for years despite sitting on up to 5 billion barrels of reserves, and Kinshasa authorities intend to increase production to bring it to at least 200,000 barrels of oil per day.
 
Although the roadshow dates and relevant terms of reference haven’t been announced yet, according to Mr. Ntubuanga the licensing round will be marketed through various platforms such as the Africa Energy Week to be held in Capetown in October 2022. In a recent conference in Angola, the Minister also stated that the Government will be introducing tax alleviation and exemption measures to attract foreign investors. Such measures shall complement the hydrocarbons code that entered into force on 1 August 2015, introducing crucial legal adjustments to enable the country to keep up with other oil producing nations in terms of its ability to attract international oil industry players, such as improved transparency and the requirement of public tenders for oil exploration and production permits.

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