DR Congo’s Ministry of National Economy said compensation payments for losses in the oil sector in the third and fourth quarters of 2025 will be made once fourth-quarter figures are certified, a process due by end-January 2026. The ministry said so in a statement on Jan. 12.

It said third-quarter certification was completed in December and validated about $34 million for the western region, before nationwide consolidation, according to official figures cited by local media. Payments for the second half of 2025 now depend on the fuel price monitoring committee’s final approval of fourth-quarter figures.

For the first half of 2025, the committee certified $15.97 million for the first and second quarters, which the ministry said has been paid in full.

The statement also said arrears from 2020 and 2021 have been settled for oil companies in the southern region (Katanga). It added that debts owed by state oil firms to storage and refining companies, as well as Cobil SPSA, for the same period have also been paid.

Fuel compensation payments fell to $31.5 million in 2024 from $288.6 million in 2023, a drop of nearly 90%, according to available data.

Boaz Kabeya