Eni's Congo development faces criticism over oil sands plan
Italian giant Eni is facing mounting criticism over its plans for an oil sands development in Congo-Brazzaville, a project campaigners claim could threaten one of the world's largest tropical rain forests.
Eni claimed the crude would be produced in areas of grassy savannah, and would not damage the forests. However, the Wall Street Journal said a study to be released today cites internal Eni reports as saying more than half the oil sands exploration zone is made up of "primary forest and other highly bio-diverse areas".
The study, published by the German Green Party's think tank, the Heinrich Boll Foundation, was researched and written by a coalition of Congolese human rights organisations and Western researchers.
At issue is a technology condemned by environmentalists as polluting and out-of-synch with global efforts to tackle climate change. Eni's project would mark the first time the process of deriving synthetic crude from oil sands has been applied on any scale outside of Canada.
Sarah Wykes, one of the authors of the report, told the Wall Street Journal: "This is a particularly dirty, carbon-intensive form of oil production and it is being planned for an area that's highly sensitive in ecological terms. "It's just too high-risk."
Eni told the newspaper that the oil sands project would involve "no destruction of primary forest; no occupation of existing farmland; no impact on areas of high biodiversity; and no...resettlement of people". It said whatever the conclusion of the environmental and social impact assessment it is currently conducting, "no rain forest area will be affected by the project".
Eni received permits for two areas, Tchikatanga and Tchikatanga-Makola, that cover about 1790 square km, in May of last year. It is believed the area could hold several billion barrels of oil.
The project has been controversial from the start. About 60% of Congo is covered by lowland tropical forests, much of it undisturbed wilderness that acts as a vital carbon sink.
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11/09/2009