D.R. Congo tries to elbow way into Africa oil club

By Joe Bavier KINSHASA, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo held its first national oil and gas congress this week, seeking to drum up interest and investment in its potentially lucrative but long ignored crude sector. Despite its stretch of coast between African oil giant Angola and Republic of Congo, a smaller producer, Democratic Republic of Congo produces just 25,000 barrels of crude a day. In over three decades it has pumped around 350 million barrels -- the equivalent of 11 days of Saudi production. Foreign investment has poured into Congo's heavily touted mining sector since polls in 2006 meant to draw a line under decades of mismanagement and armed conflict, but oil has lagged. Until last year, Congo didn't even have an oil ministry. "We have three sedimentary basins, but we only know with a certain amount... [read full story]