Congo calls off oil and gas auction following allegations of backroom deals

The Democratic Republic of Congo has cancelled a major auction of rights to drill for oil and gas across the country, including in highly sensitive parts of the Congo Basin – the last rainforest in the world that stores more carbon than it emits.

The decision follows revelations by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) that the auction process had been plagued with apparent preferential treatment and backroom deals.

On Friday, minister of hydrocarbons Aimé Sakombi Molendo said an evaluation of the auction process had found “a lack of applications, inadmissible bids, late submissions, inappropriate or irregular bids”. He said the findings meant the auction could not continue.

At least 13 of the blocks being auctioned off had overlapped with protected areas, including two encroaching on the world’s largest tropical peatlands. If disturbed, this land could release vast amounts of carbon, dramatically adding to global heating.

In a major investigation last year, TBIJ revealed that Alfajiri Energy, a little-known Canadian company, had won the rights to extract gas from one of the blocks despite its complete lack of credentials or expertise.

Two sources with first-hand knowledge of the auction told TBIJ that Didier Budimbu, then minister of hydrocarbons, had pressured government officials to effectively rig the auction in Alfajiri’s favour.

Budimbu, who has since been removed from his role and is now DRC’s minister for sport, said at the time that any claims he intervened were based on partial information and could be politically motivated. Alfajiri’s chief executive, Christian Hamuli, rejected the notion his company benefited from inappropriate meddling.

The revelations sparked major concerns about the auction. Jimmy Munguriek, from the Congo Is Not For Sale (CNPAV) campaign group, told Actualité.cd: “There is no transparency about how the companies are chosen. We have to stop selecting companies that don’t have the skills.”

Greenpeace Africa demanded that the government conduct a thorough investigation into the “damning affair”.

A month after TBIJ’s report was published, French-British oil company Perenco, which was seen as the last credible bidder involved in the auction, pulled out.

The environmental threat has not disappeared. Sakombi said the government will relaunch the auction with some changes, which could include the redrawing of the borders of blocks that overlap with protected areas.