Human Rights Watch Says Perenco Oil Operations in DRC Linked to Pollution and Health Risks

Human Rights Watch said in a report published Sunday that pollution linked to Perenco’s oil operations in western Democratic Republic of Congo poses health risks to nearby communities, while the Congolese government has yet to release findings from an environmental audit it ordered in late 2024.

The report, “DR Congo: Oil Company Operations Pose Grave Pollution Threat,” focuses on Perenco, which Human Rights Watch described as the country’s sole oil producer. Perenco operates onshore and offshore around Muanda, in Kongo Central province, the center of Congo’s small oil-producing region along its 37-kilometer Atlantic coastline.

Human Rights Watch said its researchers conducted fieldwork in January 2026 and interviewed 45 people, including residents, oil workers, health professionals, officials, and environmental and public-health experts in Muanda and Kinshasa. The group said it also analyzed satellite imagery and geolocated videos and photographs from local sources, while drawing on earlier evidence from a 2013 Congolese Senate inquiry and a 2025 academic study by researchers from universities in Congo and Cameroon.

The rights group said it found three main categories of concern: gas flaring near populated areas, open burning of oil waste, and apparent spills or leaks affecting land and water.

Human Rights Watch said it identified gas flaring at five oil storage and processing sites in Perenco’s concession between January 2025 and March 2026. At one site in northeast Muanda, it said flaring took place less than 80 meters from housing. Most of the population in the concession area lives within five kilometers of one of the five main flaring sites, according to the report. Congolese law, as cited by Human Rights Watch, generally prohibits gas flaring except under exceptional circumstances with prior authorization.

The report also pointed to a 10-hectare waste treatment facility operated by Perenco about two kilometers southeast of Kinkazi village. Human Rights Watch said verified photos and videos from early 2026 showed open-air incineration, or burning, of oil waste there. Residents living near flaring and waste-burning sites told Human Rights Watch they had experienced respiratory illness, chest pain, headaches, dizziness, nausea and eye irritation that they linked to the operations.

In addition, Human Rights Watch said it observed unprotected wellheads with apparent crude oil residue and pipelines showing erosion. Residents described spills into soil and waterways, the group said.

Human Rights Watch said its findings were consistent with earlier investigations. A 2013 Senate inquiry found elevated sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide near flaring sites, hydrocarbon contamination of groundwater and surface water, and lead and mercury in water samples at levels above World Health Organization drinking-water guidelines, according to the group. A 2025 study found high levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds in soil near extraction sites in Kinkazi, Kitombe and Tshiende, Human Rights Watch said.

A central part of the report is what Human Rights Watch said the public still does not know. The Congolese government commissioned an environmental audit in December 2024 because of longstanding pollution concerns, but it has not published final findings, interim findings, or air, soil and water quality data, the group said. In November 2025, the government extended the audit by one year without giving a clear explanation or release date, according to the report.

“The Congolese government should immediately publish the interim findings of the environmental audit of Perenco’s concession and disclose all environmental monitoring data,” said Agathe Bounfour, senior fossil fuel researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Human Rights Watch said the Congolese Control Office, or OCC, which conducts occasional inspections, told researchers there is no regular government monitoring program in the area. The OCC also said Perenco had installed air-quality sensors in several villages, but the agency did not have access to the data, according to the report. Human Rights Watch said it wrote to the Congolese government in May 2026 seeking information on monitoring, remediation and the audit but received no response.

Perenco, in correspondence quoted by Human Rights Watch, denied that its operations “would cause air, soil and water pollution or detrimental acute health conditions.” The company also told the group that “220 flare points have been permanently extinguished and the corresponding sites in the Kinkazi and Kitombe areas have been restored,” and said it had invested in maintenance and pollution prevention.

Because Perenco is Congo’s only oil producer, the dispute over pollution, public health and undisclosed audit findings reaches beyond one concession and goes to environmental oversight across the country’s entire oil-producing region.