The Republic of the Congo, often called Congo-Brazzaville, has built its petroleum industry around offshore fields in the Gulf of Guinea. Oil production is concentrated near the coastal city of Pointe-Noire, far from the inland capital of Brazzaville and much of the country’s population.
This coastal structure has made Congo an important oil exporter despite its relatively small domestic market. Foreign operators provide much of the technology and investment, while the national oil company represents the state in producing projects and the wider petroleum supply chain.
Oil has generated export revenue, government income and large infrastructure investments. It has also left the economy highly exposed to crude prices and changes in offshore production. Many producing fields are mature, and output has declined from its recent peak. Congo’s central petroleum challenge is therefore to attract enough investment to replace declining barrels without assuming that ambitious production targets will automatically become commercial reality.
Deepwater fields transformed Congo’s production profile
Commercial oil production began in Congo during the second half of the twentieth century, with early development focused on shallow offshore fields. As these assets matured, exploration moved into deeper water where larger and more technically demanding reservoirs could be developed.
The Moho complex is the clearest example of this shift. Located roughly 75 to 80 kilometres offshore, Moho became the largest oil development in Congolese history. The Moho Nord expansion began production in 2017 and added new wells, subsea equipment and floating production facilities to the original Moho development.
Moho produces around 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and accounts for a substantial share of national output. Its size makes performance at a single offshore development important to Congo’s production, exports and public finances.
TotalEnergies operates Moho in partnership with the national oil company, Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo, or SNPC, and other commercial interests. TotalEnergies has increased its position in the field while reducing exposure to some older assets. This reflects a wider industry preference for large offshore projects that can remain competitive through efficient production and shared infrastructure.
Older developments remain part of the production base. Nkossa and Nsoko II, for example, began producing in earlier periods and now operate as mature fields. Their combined production is much smaller than Moho’s, illustrating the natural decline that affects assets after years of extraction.
Other fields and licenses operated by Eni, Trident Energy and additional partners contribute to the wider offshore portfolio. Each project has its own reservoir conditions, ownership structure and development schedule, but the national pattern is clear: Congo depends on a limited number of offshore production centres rather than a large collection of small onshore fields.
Production has fallen below its 2019 peak
The Republic of the Congo held an estimated 1.8 billion barrels of proved crude oil reserves at the beginning of 2024. This gives the country a meaningful resource base, especially when compared with the size of its economy and population.
Production reached a recent peak of approximately 329,000 barrels per day in 2019 after Moho Nord and other developments increased output. By 2024, crude production had fallen to about 260,000 barrels per day. The decline reflects maturing fields, maintenance requirements, project timing and the technical difficulty of sustaining output from offshore reservoirs.
Congo joined the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in 2018. Membership gives the country a place in international discussions over production policy and market management. It also means national output is influenced by OPEC and OPEC+ supply agreements as well as by field performance.
The government has promoted the possibility of raising production toward 500,000 barrels per day. Reaching that level would require more than recovering production temporarily from existing facilities. It would depend on new commercial discoveries, rapid project development, successful redevelopment of mature assets and sustained investment by international operators.
Offshore projects usually require years of geological work, engineering, regulatory approval and construction before first oil. Deepwater wells and production systems are expensive, while investors compare opportunities in Congo with projects in Angola, Namibia, Guyana, Brazil and other offshore markets.
Congo must therefore offer competitive contract terms, predictable regulation and confidence that operators can recover large initial investments. Reserve potential alone is not enough to guarantee higher production.
Pointe-Noire connects production, exports and refining
Pointe-Noire is the operational centre of Congo’s petroleum economy. The city supports offshore logistics, service companies, storage facilities, the national refinery and the Djéno crude terminal.
Oil produced offshore is transported to floating facilities or coastal infrastructure before being exported by tanker. The Djéno terminal is one of the country’s most important petroleum assets, handling crude from several offshore developments and connecting production with international buyers.
Most Congolese crude is exported because the domestic market is small and national refinery capacity is limited. Export revenue therefore depends on global crude prices, production volumes and the commercial quality of the country’s oil grades.
Congo has one operating refinery, the Congolaise de Raffinage facility in Pointe-Noire. CORAF is part of the SNPC group and receives crude through a pipeline from the Djéno terminal. Its stated capacity is approximately 1.2 million tonnes per year, or around 21,000 barrels per day.
The refinery produces gasoline, diesel, kerosene, butane and fuel oil. According to SNPC, it supplies about 70% of national petroleum-product requirements. The remaining gap must be covered by imports, which creates an unusual position for an oil-exporting country: Congo sells large volumes of crude abroad but still depends partly on imported finished fuels.
Proposals for a much larger refinery in Pointe-Noire have aimed to serve both the domestic market and neighbouring Central African countries. However, large refinery projects require secure financing, dependable crude supply, regional customers and efficient transport links. Announced capacity should therefore be separated from infrastructure that is financed, constructed and operating.
Oil wealth has not removed downstream financial pressure
The petroleum industry has financed public spending and national infrastructure, but it has also made Congo vulnerable to oil-price cycles. When production or prices fall, export receipts and government revenue can weaken quickly.
This exposure remained visible in 2025, when lower oil prices and limited hydrocarbon activity placed pressure on economic growth, the external balance and government finances. The country’s high public debt increases the importance of using petroleum revenue carefully.
Domestic fuel pricing creates a separate challenge. The government has used subsidies to keep some petroleum products affordable and support businesses that depend on diesel and aviation fuel. An International Monetary Fund assessment estimated that fuel subsidies cost 2.5% of gross domestic product in 2023, after reaching 4.5% in 2022.
These subsidies reduce the immediate price paid by consumers and companies, but they also require public resources that could otherwise support health, education, roads or electricity infrastructure. The IMF found that a large part of the benefit went to high-volume commercial users rather than directly to households.
Reform is politically and economically difficult. Increasing fuel prices too quickly can raise transport and food costs, while maintaining large subsidies creates continuing pressure on the budget. Congo must improve refinery performance, product distribution, taxation and targeted household support if it wants to reduce the fiscal cost without creating a sudden price shock.
New offshore investment will determine the direction of Congolese oil
The Republic of the Congo is not close to the end of its petroleum industry. Its reserves, offshore infrastructure and experienced operators provide a foundation for continued production. Moho remains a major asset, and exploration around existing offshore areas may identify additional resources that can use established facilities.
However, mature fields will continue to decline without new drilling and redevelopment. Production growth will depend on whether discoveries are large enough to justify expensive offshore projects and whether contract conditions remain competitive.
Congo’s expanding liquefied natural gas business may broaden the hydrocarbon economy, but it does not remove the country’s dependence on crude exports. Oil will remain central to government revenue and external trade in the medium term.
The most realistic path is not an immediate leap to a much higher production level. It is a sustained programme of field maintenance, infill drilling, brownfield redevelopment and selective new projects. Congo’s ability to turn this work into stable production—and to manage the revenue more effectively—will determine how much value the next stage of its oil industry creates.