Angola, DRC close to settling 50-year oil block dispute to become joint holders

Angola and the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are reportedly inching towards a settlement of a 50-year dispute over one of their offshore oil blocks, which may also pave the way for the expansion of collaboration between the two countries in various sectors.
If successful, the deal could help reduce tensions between the two neighbors and result in Angola’s state-owned oil company, Sonangol, writing off a $200 million debt owed by the DRC’s national oil company, according to the DRC’s oil minister, Didier Budimbu. The minister also said that the production-sharing agreement put out by Angola and Chevron calls for each nation to own 30% of block 14 and operator Chevron to have the remaining 40%. A successful agreement might help reduce tensions between the two nations over the blocks, which Angola has long held. He also added that the talks on the further blocks that cross both nations’ borders on the Atlantic coast were still ongoing.
This arrangement is not the only example of collaboration between these two nations. In an effort to improve mobility, Angola and the DRC recently signed an agreement at the 8th joint cooperation committee that exempts their officials who carry diplomatic or official passports from the requirement to get visas. The two nations also decided to launch the process of finalizing cooperation agreements in the fields of tourism, women’s empowerment, forestry, wildlife ecosystems, small and medium-sized businesses, construction crafts, urban planning, and housing.