Soco Resumes Activities in Eastern Congo
By Nicholas Bariyo
U.K.-based oil explorer, Soco International PLC (SIA.LN) has resumed
exploration activities in eastern Congo, more than a year after it
evacuated workers from its exploration camp in the country citing
security concerns.
A company spokeswoman said Tuesday that Soco would take at least one
month to complete seismic tests on Lake Edward, the first time such
tests are being conducted on the Congolese side of the lake.
Soco becomes the latest company to start oil exploration activities on
the Congolese-side of the oil-rich Lake Albertine rift, less than six
months after United Nations peace keepers helped the Congolese army to
defeat the M23 rebellion that had plagued resource-rich region since
early 2012.
"Soco's current seismic survey is actually the first to be conducted
by Soco in the area" the spokeswoman said. "Soco has a small fly-camp
presence in a village on the DRC side of the lake."
Analysts say that the return of relative peace in eastern Congo is
expected to trigger a spike in oil exploration activities over the
next few years, as oil majors such as France's Total SA and Chevron,
as well as small operators like Soco and Oil of Congo, resume inactive
licenses.
In September 2012, at the height of the M23 rebel insurgency, Soco
evacuated scores of its workers from its exploration camps in Congo to
Uganda.
Soco's exploration license stretches into the UNESCO-protected Virunga
national park and it has faced a number of hurdles in its attempts to
explore for oil in the promising oil basin. In February, the U.K.
government said it would mediate Soco's argument with the World Wild
Fund for Nature after the U.K.-based environmental group asked the oil
firm to withdraw from the licenses WWF said the company's planned
exploration activities are in violation of the guidelines set out by
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Oil exploration companies have discovered at least 3.5 billion of
crude on the Ugandan side of the rift basin and companies like Soco
are hoping to make similar finds on the Congolese side of the rift.
Write to Nicholas Bariyo at nicholas.bariyo@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20140429-710411.html
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