Congolese NGOs take legal action against US firm over Lake Kivu methane deal
Two Congolese civil society groups have filed a legal discovery action in the United States against the Texas-based oil and gas company that won the largest concession to extract methane from Democratic Republic of Congo’s Lake Kivu.
The DRC government was heavily criticized for the lack of transparency around its 2022 auctioning of methane gas blocks in Lake Kivu, particularly because of the risk of catastrophe; poorly managed extraction from the unique layers of the lake could trigger an explosive release of lethal gas, threatening the large population living along the lake’s shores.
Alerte Congolaise pour l’Environnement et les Droits de l’Homme (ACEDH) and Actions pour la Promotion et Protection des Peuples et Espèces Menacés (APEM) filed the discovery action – a legal tool used to obtain information and evidence from U.S. parties for use in foreign legal cases – against Winds Exploration and Production LLC and its CEO, Franklin Ihekwoaba, citing public and media allegations that the gas blocks were illegally awarded.
“These allegations include concerns with the fairness of the auction process, improper government conduct and interference, and the government’s failure to conduct environmental and social due diligence required under Congolese law, particularly given the risk that the volatile Lake Kivu might explode,” said the October 27 filing, seen by OCCRP and the Center for Climate Reporting.
The legal petition, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, seeks information from Winds and Ihekwoaba to use in a DRC lawsuit challenging the Congolese government’s process of awarding three Lake Kivu methane gas block concessions.
The concessions were awarded to “inexperienced companies that did not fulfill the auction requirements” and that the DRC government had failed to “conduct or require necessary environmental impact studies and consultations with indigenous communities,” ACEDH and APEM allege in the filing.
Ihekwoaba, CEO of Winds Exploration and Production LLC, told OCCRP he could not comment on the ongoing dispute in Utah because the matter is still being resolved. The DRC Ministry of Hydrocarbons did not reply to a request for comment.
More than two million people live near the shores of Lake Kivu, which borders the DRC and Rwanda. A large concentration of dissolved methane and carbon dioxide lie in the lake’s deep water, posing a risk of catastrophic “limnic eruption” if the gas is not extracted properly.
Only two of these eruptions are known to have occurred in recent history, both in small lakes in Cameroon in the 1980s, causing more than 1,700 people to die of asphyxiation. Lake Kivu contains roughly 1,000 times more gas, meaning that even if a portion of the gas escaped, there could be significantly graver consequences.
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The DRC Ministry of Hydrocarbons awarded Winds the block to extract methane gas in a controversial 2022 auction of 30 oil and gas concessions. Following intense international and domestic outcry over environmental concerns, allegations of corruption, and failure to consult with affected communities, the DRC cancelled the sale of the 27 oil blocks, however there has been no annulment of its three gas block awards.
The legal petition by the NGOs notes Winds’ “small-scale” and “troubling” operations in the U.S. state of Utah, where reports of explosions and a leak at its gas field in Carbon County led to authorities plugging its wells earlier this year. A complaint was also lodged against the company in March 2024 by members of the Shimmin Trust, owners of several wells in the gas field it operated, who alleged that it had failed to pay royalties for several months.
The company had its certificate of organization revoked by the state of Texas in July 2023 for alleged tax breaches, making the company is legally inactive and barred from conducting business in the state. The non-profit organization Environmental Investigation Agency said “it is unclear how the DRC contract could be awarded to a company with such status.”
Ihekwoaba, however, described the tax issue in Texas as a procedural filing rather than unpaid taxes.
“Every year, a company franchise tax is filed, and Winds earnings are in another State other than Texas, and the filings were done. Winds did not owe taxes in Texas. All that needed to be done and was done was to file a form of no revenue in Texas,” he said.
Shortly after the announcement of the company’s successful bid, a Winds spokesperson told Bloomberg that the initial phase of development would cost US$120 million and that the company was in discussions with potential partners. It was reported that the project may require a total investment of $500 million.
Alfajiri Energy Corporation, a Canada-based company that successfully bid for another of the three gas blocks, has also come under fire in recent years. A 2023 article by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism raised questions how Alfajiri got past the first round of bidding and revealed there were two evaluations by the government’s technical committee – a first version that gave Alfajri the lowest score among bidders and a later version that gave it the highest score.
ACEDH and APEM said they intend to also challenge Alfajiri’s gas block over lack of transparency, failure to follow required procedures and laws, and improper Congolese government conduct. RED, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Symbion Power, won the bid for the third methane gas block in Lake Kivu, however no production sharing agreement has been reached.
In filing the legal discovery action at a U.S. court, the NGOs hope to correct past mistakes by the Congolese government, said Olivier Bahemuke, the head of ACEDH. Their goal, he told OCCRP, was to bring “a more participative, strategic, and inclusive approach to natural resources in general, and fossil fuels and climate in particular.”
