Israeli mining mogul Dan Gertler loses prized oil blocks in Democratic Republic of Congo

The Hydrocarbons Ministry of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has announced the closing of contracts awarded to two companies controlled by Israeli mining mogul Dan Gertler.

The contracts provided Gertler with licenses to manage two oil blocks bordering Uganda to the east.

The government is now considering the sale of the blocks to Total or Tullow Oil, IDEX Online reported.

The Congo Is Not For Sale anti-corruption group released a financial investigation in May, claiming that the DRC stands to lose $3.71 billion from “suspect mining and oil deals” with Gertler.

According to the group, the DRC lost $1.95 billion in revenue between 2003 and 2021. It was on the verge of losing a further $1.76 billion in future royalty payments to Gertler’s companies between 2021 and 2039 if nothing was done to halt the hemorrhaging of funds, the group stated.

Last month, the DRC government stated that it would revoke exploration licenses issued in 2010 to two companies controlled by the billionaire, who has been subjected to U.S. sanctions. The licenses allowed his companies Caprikat Limited and Foxwhelp Limited to manage the blocks.

At the time, the companies insisted that they still held the rights to the blocks due to a force majeure declared in 2020 when the government failed to secure a way to export the oil.

“The force majeure was subsequently confirmed in May 2021 by the State Council and therefore remains in place until the reasons for the force majeure are resolved, by law,” a spokesperson for Oil of DRCongo (a holding company overseeing Getler’s interests in the DRC) said earlier.