Recent oil and gas discoveries in the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC mean that the country has the second largest crude oil reserves in Central and Southern Africa, after Angola. Several international oil majors have been eyeing Africa for the development of new operations in a largely untapped region. New oil and gas projects in the DRC could provide energy companies with massive new reserves and allow them to develop lower-carbon operations.
However, there is widespread opposition in the country, as environmentalists worry about the ecological impact of drilling, and residents are concerned about the effect on the community, as well as the potential for corruption. The DRC’s proven oil reserves of 180 million barrels are mainly located in the four major lakes bordering Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda. Its reserves are thought to include a total of around 30 billion cubic metres of methane and natural gas. In Lake Kivu, bordering Rwanda and Burundi, there are also almost 60 billion cubic metres of dissolved methane in the water