FACTBOX - Democratic Republic of Congo's oil output

(Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo held its first oil and gas conference this week, seeking to boost investment in a sector dwarfed by huge amounts of money pouring into the country's mining industry.

Congo began exploring for oil in the 1960s and started offshore production in 1975, reaching a peak of 27,000 barrels per day in 1984. Onshore production began in 1980, peaking in 1986 with eight fields in production.

In 2007, the former Zaire produced roughly 25,000 barrels of oil per day. Here are some facts about companies involved:

PRODUCTION

Production is dominated by Perenco, a European independent exploration and production company, which bought Muanda International Oil Company (MIOC) from Chevron in 2004.

Perenco operates four concessions, both onshore and offshore, in the southwest Bas-Congo province, which is sandwiched between neighbouring Angola and Republic of Congo.

Perenco's partners in Congo are Teikoku Oil Co. Ltd., part of Japan's biggest oil and gas exploration company INPEX, and ODS. Perenco said 2007 production was about 25,000 barrels per day.

EXPLORATION

Lake Albert -- Blocks 1 and 2