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Friday, April 25, 2014
Soco International is set to start a seismic survey in the UNESCO-protected Virunga National Park located in and around the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Lake Edward. “The start date for seismic testing has been planned for April 26 and will take about a month,” said Roger Cagle, one of SOCO’s managers in DRC.
The company exploring in this area has been hotly contested by conservation groups like the WWF, as the Virunga National Park is the most bio-diverse park in Africa and conservation groups say exploration will damage the environment. Zach Abraham, WWF’s global campaigns manager, said Soco was irresponsible for pushing ahead its plans. “We believe the start of seismic testing shows that Soco intends to exploit oil in Virunga,” said Abraham in a Reuters report. “It’s impossible to guarantee oil extraction anywhere without pollution, let alone in a place as fragile as this.”
According to Cagle, Soco will be using the same seismic surveying company and techniques that Tullow Oil used on the Ugandan side of the lake (Lake Albert on the Ugandan side) and the company would also use an environmentally sensitive technique of placing the recorders on the lake bed.
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