Congo has a very short coast-line – just 22 kilometers, or less than 14 miles – but it is surrounded by nations that have built up fortunes with offshore oil exploration and its southern neighbor Angola has started producing oil on land as well. Mismanagement and bad governance prompted the shutdown of Congo’s only oil refinery in the 1970s, but Congolese officials suggest that a new Congolese government may be in a position to offer up 10 blocks for oil exploration contracts in 2012.
Top four ways Congo's instability affects the world
3. Oil
