I am looking for any information of possible oil discoveries, or
mentions of the possibility of discovering oil in the NE portion of the DRC
(Deocratic Republic Congo) or where the Sudan and CAR (Central African
Republic) borders meet with that of the DRC.

Hello again kongulu

I'm learning more and more about this part of the world!

Certainly Heritage Oil of Canada believes there is oil in the north
eastern part of the Republic. Last summer Heritage announced its plans
to begin explorations in the East African Rift basin on the DRC side
of the rift as well as in the adjacent part of Uganda.

"Heritage had mapped this "challenging" part of Africa extensively, as
part of what its chief executive, Michael Wood, described as a
"frontier" exploration. The concession, which covers parts of Ituri
and Butembo provinces, extends over 7.7 million acres (3.1 million
ha)."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28514

map of area
http://www.heritageoilcorp.com/ao_drc.htm

"structures there with hundreds of millions of bbl of oil in reserves"
http://www.oilandgasinternational.com/departments/from_editor/7_8_02.html

"Less known is Canadian Heritage Oil Corporation's intention of
drilling for oil in the war torn eastern region of the DRC. Although
the company plans to begin drilling in August, the project may be
delayed due to revelations of Heritage connections with South African
mercenary groups. The director and founder of Heritage Oil is Tony
Buckingham, who has been linked to Executive Outcomes and other
mercenary groups."
http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/updates/072402.html


This USAID map shows that a French company holds oil and gas
concessions for an area somewhat over a hundred miles from the
DRC-Sudan border:
http://www.usaid.gov/about/sudan/map_oil.pdf


Thanks for another interesting question.
Please ask if anything needs clarification.

Regards - Leli

search terms:
"oil exploration" "oil discovered" "oil concession" "oil company"
DRC Zaire Sudan CAR Ituri map
Heritage

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Clarification of Answer by leli-ga on 24 Jan 2003 02:50 PST

Thank-you again, kongulu. Your questions are teaching me a lot about the DRC!

Excellent answer. Saved me time. Thank you.