據美國彭博新聞社2022年5月17日報道，剛果（金）日前表示，計劃拍賣的16個石油區塊的石油儲量估計為160億桶，按當前價格計算，價值超過6500億美元。

總部位于得克薩斯州的GeoSigmoid收集的上述初步數據仍需進一步勘探和“發現具有經濟效益的油氣田”來確認。這一估計是基于35%的石油采收率和每桶107美元的平均價格。

16個區塊將在7月28日和29日在剛果（金）首都金沙薩進行拍賣。根據Budimbu的數據，坦噶尼喀山谷沿線的4個區塊預計擁有72.5億桶石油儲量，而位于中央盆地的9個區塊估計擁有64億桶的石油儲量。靠近大西洋海岸的Ndunda區塊石油儲量估計為1.3億桶，而Nganzi區塊儲量估計為20億桶，Yema/Matamba-Makanzi區塊儲量估計為8億桶。

剛果（金）是撒哈拉以南非洲大陸面積最大的國家，擁有巨大的潛在石油儲量，但剛果目前在大西洋沿岸由法國佩朗哥石油公司控制的老化石油區塊的石油日產量只有2.5萬桶左右。

雖然這些區塊有可能為剛果（金）這個今年預算預計為111億美元的貧困國家帶來收入，但拍賣提議引發了環保人士的擔憂，他們擔心開放大片雨林和世界上最大的泥炭地進行勘探。剛果（金）石油部在一段視頻中表示，這些區塊是“精心”選擇的，并考慮到了該國保護區的敏感性。  

李峻 編譯自 美國彭博新聞社

原文如下：

$650B Worth of Oil Reserves Being Auctioned in Congo

Oil blocks that the Democratic Republic of Congo plans to auction have reserves estimated at 16 billion barrels that would be worth more than $650 billion at current prices.

Preliminary data compiled by Texas-based GeoSigmoid still need to be confirmed by further exploration and “the discovery of economically profitable hydrocarbon deposits”. The estimates are based on an oil recovery rate of 35% and an average price of $107 a barrel. 

The 16 blocks will go on tender on July 28 and 29 in Kinshasa, the capital. The four blocks along the Tanganyika valley are forecast to have 7.25 billion barrels of reserves while the nine offered in the Cuvette Centrale, or central basin, have an estimated 6.4 billion barrels, according to Budimbu. The Ndunda block near the Atlantic coast has an estimated 130 million barrels, while Nganzi potentially has 2 billion barrels, and Yema/Matamba-Makanzi 800 million barrels, he said.

Congo is the largest country by landmass in sub-Saharan Africa with significant potential oil reserves but its current production is only about 25,000 barrels per day from aging oil blocks controlled by France’s Perenco SA on the Atlantic Ocean coast. 

While the blocks have potential to generate revenue in an impoverished nation whose budget for this year is projected at $11.1 billion, the tender offers have sparked concern among environmentalists over opening Congo’s massive rainforests and the world’s largest peatlands to exploration. The oil ministry said in a video presentation that the blocks were chosen “meticulously” and take into account the sensitivity of the country’s protected areas.