NEWS & POLITICS
Congo grants QatarEnergy license for offshore oil exploration
The Republic of Congo has awarded new offshore exploration licenses to QatarEnergy, one of the world's largest energy firms, allowing it to explore and extract oil reserves within its territory.
Michael Oduor
According to Gulf Times, the deal grants QatarEnergy a 35% stake in the Nzombo offshore block off the Atlantic Ocean, alongside TotalEnergies at 50%, and the state-owned Société Nationale des Petroles du Congo at 15%. The block, located 90 kilometers from Pointe Noire, is the economic capital of the Republic of Congo and covers an estimated area of 1,053 square kilometers with a depth of up to 1,000 meters.
Congo's oil reserves are estimated at 1.6 billion and currently rank 36th globally, according to Worldometer. The sector remains central to Congo's economy as African countries such as Namibia, Senegal, Rwanda, and the Ivory Coast continue to discover new oil reserves.
In recent months, Namibia has reported progress from TotalEnergies' Venus and Galp's Mopane, which are actively conducting exploratory drilling operations, with indications of multi-billion-barrel reserves in the Sagittarius-1X well.
On January 15, Rwanda made its first oil discovery, with 13 oil reserves found around Lake Kivu, marking its entry into the list of global oil-producing nations.
Meanwhile, the collaborative GTA Project between Senegal and Mauritania has already begun producing and exporting Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). At the same time, oil-producing nations such as Libya, the Ivory Coast, and Nigeria continue to increase production with the discovery of new oil wells.
