The collapse of many state structures, inefficiency and bribery together with political instability have led to extreme difficulties within the industry. Once peace is restored to the country, however, it seems likely that the Kabila government, like its predecessors, will try to promote foreign interest in the onshore Lemba Trough, Tanganyika Graben blocks and Cuvette Centrale. The Ministry of Energy is updating petroleum legislature to supervise and control the awarding of exploration permits and production concessions. In the DRC, acreage is licensed under a concession system. As the country's domestic crude is too heavy to be processed by the refinery, crude for refining has to be imported, mainly from Nigeria.
Congo also imports other finished products from Kenya and Zambia.
This upgrade is dependent on finding foreign investors and on the return of political stability to the country. Marketing of fuels and lubricants products is carried out by Mobil, Shell, Agip, Fina and PetroCongo. The distribution infrastructure consists of river, road and barge systems, all of which are in need of improvement. The lack of an adequate transportation network, wide-scale corruption and inefficiency together with the political instability and civil war hamper development in all sectors of the economy and frequent product shortages are experienced. In the eastern part of Congo there is a scarcity of tanker trucks since many have been trapped or abandoned in Rwanda and Burundi by the ongoing political turmoil.