Burundi Begins Ambitious Oil Exploration

The Burundian government has launched a protracted exploration exercise for oil and minerals with the hope to become a leading regional exporter, thereby expanding its national reserves. Burundi's Director for Geology and Mines, Damien Riragonya, says potentially large oil deposits are believed to exist on the Burundi side of the Lake Tanganyika region, which the government has already divided into four blocks and contracted to a number of oil prospecting companies. [PE]