Socio-economic impacts: Oil exploration and extraction in the Virunga National Park come with high risks. The fishermen of Lake Edward urged president Tshisekedi to prohibit oil extraction as any hydrocarbon pollution would seriously compromise the health and food security of the 50,000 families that rely on the lake’s fishing resources. Water contamination would also negatively affect the Semliki River located upstream of the river basin. The development of oil infrastructures also conflicts with tourism activities and would impact the associated revenues. 

Insecurity and conflicts: Eastern DRC has been torn by violence for years and crisis experts fear that oil exploration could exacerbate insecurity. Research has shown that the Virunga National Park was a source of conflict before the finding of oil. Those were related to lack of participatory processes in the management of the park, land demarcation and access to natural resources between others. The establishment of oil extraction would even further increase the already existing tension as the proportion of available land would be reduced. 

Rangers at high risk: Together with environmental defenders, rangers are also in charge of protecting the park animals and biodiversity. Rodrigue Katembo was a ranger at the Virunga National Park when he was targeted by the Congolese authorities. He was arrested and imprisoned in Kinshasa because he advocated for the protection of the park against Soco International. In another case, Emmanuel de Merode, at the time Chief Warden of the Virunga National Park,  was shot and survived an ambush travelling to the national park headquarters. 

Biodiversity: The Virunga National Park spreads over 790,000 hectares and comprises various ecosystems including a tropical forest, the northern Rwenzori Mountains, and several volcanoes. The Park is home to unique flora and fauna including okapis, large colonies of hippos and around two hundred critically endangered mountain gorillas. The National Park has been on the list of World Heritage in danger since 1979 and exploration is expected to cause adverse impacts to wildlife and biodiversity. Oil exploration opponents also fear that drilling could affect volcanic activity. Under Congolese law extraction of oil is illegal and therefore prohibited in protected areas. However, in 2018, the Congolese Minister of hydrocarbons disclosed that they are considering declassifying around 1720.75 square kilometers of the Virunga Park (representing 21.5% of its total surface) to allow oil exploration in protected areas.

Climate impacts: The Park is located at the eastern end of the Congo Basin, the world's second-largest rainforest after the Amazon. New oil projects are not only out of line with the International Energy Agency’s 2050 net-zero roadmap but also put this critical carbon storage ecosystem at risk.

Corruption and conflict of interest: SOCO’s activities have been linked to corruption allegations and human rights abuses against oil projects opponents.