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Seismic tests in Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) Virunga National Park, Africa's oldest wildlife reserve which is famed for its mountain gorillas, have confirmed the presence of oil, the Congolese government said Friday.
Tests carried out by British oil company Soco had returned "positive" on the presence of oil deposits, Minister of Hydrocarbons Aime Ngoy Mukena told AFP by telephone.
On the question of "whether there is an oil field" underneath the park, the study answered "yes", he said, without giving further details.
The announcement was likely to reignite a heated debate within DRC over the merits of exploring for oil in the vast park, which covers some 7,800 square kilometres (3,010 square miles) of lush forest, glaciated peaks and savannah in the restive eastern province of North Kivu.
The UNESCO world heritage site reopened to tourists last year after being closed for two years because of militia violence in the region. UNESCO has warned several times that any exploration for oil in the park would be "incompatible" with its heritage status.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Gaaark on Sunday November 08 2015, @02:03AM
Bye, monkeys, wild life, lush forest.
C'ya!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Francis on Sunday November 08 2015, @02:07AM
I'm wondering why they were even allowed to test for oil if it's under a wildlife park. Some parts of Africa have figured out that tourists are a significant source of income that doesn't require destroying the landscape to obtain.
(Score: 2) by francois.barbier on Sunday November 08 2015, @02:38AM
Tourism is limitless. Oil reserves are not.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Sunday November 08 2015, @12:31PM
Not with militia violence, no.
May be so, but there's enough to get money quick: those militia need AK-es, bullets and, occasionally, some RPG-es to have some fun [wikipedia.org] around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Some call me Tim on Sunday November 08 2015, @02:57AM
Probably because the Minister of Hydrocarbons is now a very wealthy man.
Questioning science is how you do science!
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Joe Desertrat on Sunday November 08 2015, @06:11PM
Probably because the Minister of Hydrocarbons is now a very wealthy man.
We need a "sad, but true" mod.
(Score: 2, Troll) by EQ on Sunday November 08 2015, @09:37AM
Yeah, you tell them they can't exploit their resources, they have to stay poor, undeveloped economically. Better they should starve than they encroach on western sensibilities about parks and preserves. The animal and plant life is more important than the humans who live there and want self-determination. That's how your statement looks to people there; some might even characterize it as condescending and imperialist. And maybe even hypocritical considering how the west explores and exploits. So think twice about the context you assume.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 08 2015, @11:31AM
The fate of our habitable planet is more important than some short-term gains for people in some poor countries, yes. You don't think in the long-term, and that is a significant failing.
And maybe even hypocritical considering how the west explores and exploits.
Have you considered that "the west" is not a hivemind? I am not "the west" and disagree with many things governments in the west do, so my level of hypocrisy here is nil.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 09 2015, @04:07PM
The survival of the species is less important than the survival of the biosphere, and humanity is overrated to begin with. In fact, I would go so far as to say that genocide is a perfectly reasonable and aesthetically agreaable response to such things as this. It's just less viable against the West than against the DRC. Pity we can't offer these places nuclear power as an alternative without our leaders fantasizing about proliferation concerns.