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In a statement, the Ministry of Hydrocarbon said 27 oil and 3 gas blocks would be auctioned, an increase from the 16 blocks the country initially committed to in May.
The blocks include areas that reach into Virunga National Park, a sanctuary for endangered mountain gorillas in eastern Congo.
Didier Budimbu, the country’s Hydrocarbons minister said Tuesday the oil exploitation would benefit the Congolese population.
“The president, Felix Tshisekedi, has a vision and he wants to get his population out of poverty,” Budimbu said during a press conference.
T
he DRC has more than 27 million people, including over 3 million children, who do not have enough food to feed themselves — a third of the country’s population — and more than 5 million people who are internally displaced, according to Norwegian Refugee Council.
A petition signed by more than 100,000 people, is calling on President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo to end the development of new oil and gas fields in…
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