Oil giant Perenco to be tried in France for environmental damage in DR Congo
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European oil company Perenco faces trial in France over environmental harm in the DRC, following reports of oil leaks and health impacts on local communities.
European oil giant Perenco has been called to stand trial in France for ecological damage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), three years after Investigate Europe and its partners exposed repeated oil leaks, water contamination, and a sharp rise in respiratory illnesses among local communities there.
The trial, set to be heard at a newly created chamber of the Paris Judicial Court dedicated to corporate social and environmental responsibility, could see the Franco-British corporation forced to pay reparations.
The case stems from a civil complaint filed in November 2022 by two environmental organisations - Friends of the Earth France and Sherpa - following a joint investigation by Investigate Europe, Disclose and the Environmental Investigative Forum consortium.
The exposé detailed alarming environmental degradation in Muanda, a coastal area of the DRC where Perenco has operated for years. Journalists documented 167 pollution incidents there linked to the oil company’s operations, including in a protected national park home to manatees and gorillas.
Perenco has contested the Paris court’s jurisdiction, arguing that the accusations concern only its DRC subsidiary. The Perenco SA group has its headquarters in London and Paris. Théa Bonfour, a lawyer representing NGO Sherpa, called this “a strategy systematically used by Perenco to evade environmental liability for the group's operations abroad."
If Perenco is found liable, the court could order financial and environmental reparations for affected communities in the DRC. The outcome of the trial could potentially set a precedent. The Perenco Group operates in 14 countries, including Colombia, Gabon, and Tunisia, where its companies have also been accused of environmental damage.
Despite Perenco’s public assertions that past incidents in the DRC were “minor and localised,” recent developments suggest otherwise. In April 2025, a crude oil storage facility operated by the company suffered a major accident. Following this, a Congolese parliamentary commission visited the area and issued a damning report, shared with Investigate Europe.
The commission’s delegation found severe environmental degradation: non-potable water, infertile soil, rivers and groundwater polluted, and unfenced flaring zones - posing serious health and safety risks.
Residents testified to experiencing skin conditions, diarrhea, and even vomiting blood. The report also accuses Perenco of cleaning up the site before the inspectors arrived, and withholding pollution data collected by a French subcontractor.
Parallel to the civil proceedings, the group is also reportedly under scrutiny from France’s national financial prosecutor's office, which is investigating Perenco’s activities in neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville. In 2023, Investigate Europe exposed a deal entitling Julienne Sassou-Nguesso, daughter of the country’s autocratic president, to millions in dividends from the oil field operated by energy giant Perenco. That same deal is under examination by the Norwegian financial crime authority.
When it comes to the case set to be heard in France next year, a Perenco spokesperson told IE that its French subsidiary “strongly denies all the allegations made by the NGOs, which it considers procedurally inadmissible and, in any event, unfounded.”
The trial, set to be heard at a newly created chamber of the Paris Judicial Court dedicated to corporate social and environmental responsibility, could see the Franco-British corporation forced to pay reparations.
The case stems from a civil complaint filed in November 2022 by two environmental organisations - Friends of the Earth France and Sherpa - following a joint investigation by Investigate Europe, Disclose and the Environmental Investigative Forum consortium.
The exposé detailed alarming environmental degradation in Muanda, a coastal area of the DRC where Perenco has operated for years. Journalists documented 167 pollution incidents there linked to the oil company’s operations, including in a protected national park home to manatees and gorillas.
Perenco has contested the Paris court’s jurisdiction, arguing that the accusations concern only its DRC subsidiary. The Perenco SA group has its headquarters in London and Paris. Théa Bonfour, a lawyer representing NGO Sherpa, called this “a strategy systematically used by Perenco to evade environmental liability for the group's operations abroad."
If Perenco is found liable, the court could order financial and environmental reparations for affected communities in the DRC. The outcome of the trial could potentially set a precedent. The Perenco Group operates in 14 countries, including Colombia, Gabon, and Tunisia, where its companies have also been accused of environmental damage.
Despite Perenco’s public assertions that past incidents in the DRC were “minor and localised,” recent developments suggest otherwise. In April 2025, a crude oil storage facility operated by the company suffered a major accident. Following this, a Congolese parliamentary commission visited the area and issued a damning report, shared with Investigate Europe.
The commission’s delegation found severe environmental degradation: non-potable water, infertile soil, rivers and groundwater polluted, and unfenced flaring zones - posing serious health and safety risks.
Residents testified to experiencing skin conditions, diarrhea, and even vomiting blood. The report also accuses Perenco of cleaning up the site before the inspectors arrived, and withholding pollution data collected by a French subcontractor.
Parallel to the civil proceedings, the group is also reportedly under scrutiny from France’s national financial prosecutor's office, which is investigating Perenco’s activities in neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville. In 2023, Investigate Europe exposed a deal entitling Julienne Sassou-Nguesso, daughter of the country’s autocratic president, to millions in dividends from the oil field operated by energy giant Perenco. That same deal is under examination by the Norwegian financial crime authority.
When it comes to the case set to be heard in France next year, a Perenco spokesperson told IE that its French subsidiary “strongly denies all the allegations made by the NGOs, which it considers procedurally inadmissible and, in any event, unfounded.”
