			Home About us Contact

Niger Delta (niger + delta)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	20%
Earth and Environmental Science	20%

Selected Abstracts

A RE-APPRAISAL OF THE APPLICATION OF ROCK-EVAL PYROLYSIS TO SOURCE ROCK STUDIES IN THE NIGER DELTA

JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGY, Issue 1 2005
A. Akinlua
Thirty four shale samples from the Tertiary Agbada Formation were analysed for TOC and Rock-Eval pyrolysis parameters in order to evaluate the effect of oil-based mud contamination on source-rock characterization. The samples were obtained from five wells in the offshore Niger Delta over a depth range of 5,460ft to 11,580ft. The results indicated that the raw (unextracted) samples were dominated by Type III kerogen. However, after extraction, both Types II/III and III kerogen were identified, consistent with previous studies. These results demonstrate that it is essential that shale samples should be extracted prior to TOC and Rock-Eval pyrolysis for accurate source-rock evaluation. [source]

Corporate,community relations in Nigeria's oil industry: challenges and imperatives

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2006
Uwafiokun Idemudia
Abstract The adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and corporate,community relation (CCR) strategies by oil companies has failed to reduce the incidence of violent conflict between the host communities and oil companies in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. This paper argues that the failure to seek, understand and integrate community perceptions into CSR policies and practices, the over-emphasis of affirmative duties to the detriment of negative injunction duties and the absence of an enabling environment due to government failure are responsible for the observed problem. The paper concludes that unless these gaps are addressed, CSR by the Nigerian oil industry is likely to continue to fail to achieve its full potential. However, CCR in the Nigerian oil industry will be significantly improved if, and when, the needs and aspirations of the major stakeholders are addressed through a tri-sector partnership approach to development and conflict resolution. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source]

Distribution of endosulfan in water, sediment and fish from Warri river, Niger delta, Nigeria

AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
Lawrence Ikechukwu Ezemonye
Abstract This article presents the first attempt to quantify the levels and distribution pattern of endosulfan, an organochlorine pesticide in surface water, sediment and fish (Chrysichthys furcatus and Tilapia zilli). The samples were collected from three stations (Ovwian, Ekakpamre and Ovu) of Warri River in the western Niger Delta of Nigeria in 2006 during the dry and wet seasons (January,August). A total of 96 samples made up of 24 samples each for water, sediment and fish were analysed in this study. The pesticide levels were analysed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC model CECIL 1010) to elucidate its distribution in various environmental compartments. The ranges of concentrations of the pesticide in the matrices were: 0.01,9.23 ,g/l (water), 0.06,11.98 ,g/gdw (sediment), 0.01,15.06 ,g/gdw (Chrysichthys furcatus) and 0.01,1.80 ,g/gdw (Tilapia zilli). From this result, decreasing order of occurrence of the pesticide is as follows: fish > sediment > water. The concentrations observed in fish (Chrysichthys furcatus) were higher than the levels observed in sediment and water suggesting bioaccumulation of the pesticide by the fish. Spatial variations occurred with downstream stations having statistically higher concentrations in all matrices at P < 0.05. Seasonal variations occurred with higher concentrations in dry season for water and sediment only, while the fish species had higher concentrations in the wet season. The observed values of endosulfan were above the ecological bench marks (0.02 ,g/l) recommended by Nigeria Environmental Protection Agency and European Union. They were also relatively higher than those in previous studies on the Nigerian environment, an observation that calls for regular monitoring of the Niger Delta water bodies. Résumé Cet article présente le premier essai de quantifier les teneurs et le schéma de distribution de l'endosulfan, un pesticide organochloré, dans l'eau de surface, les sédiments et les poissons (Chrysichthys furcatus et Tilapia zilli). Les échantillons ont été récoltés en 2006 dans trois stations (Ovwian, Ekakpamre et Ovu) de la rivière Warri, dans le delta occidental du Niger, au Nigeria, pendant les saisons des pluies et sèche (janvier et août). Un total de 96 échantillons furent prélevés et analysés, à savoir 24 échantillons pour l'eau, pour les sédiments et pour les deux espèces de poissons. La teneur en pesticide a été analysée par la chromatographie en phase liquide à haute performance (HPLC modèle Cecil 1010) pour connaître sa distribution dans les différents compartiments environnementaux. La concentration du pesticide dans les matrices était de 0,01,9,23 ,g/l (eau), 0.06,11.98 ,g/gMS (sédiment), 0,01,15,06 ,g/gMS (Chrysichthys furcatus) et 0,01,1,80 ,g/gMS (Tilapia zilli). De ces résultats, nous pouvons dire que l'ordre d'occurrence du pesticide est le suivant: poissons > sédiment >eau. Les concentrations observées chez le poisson Chrysichthys furcatusétaient plus élevées que celles des sédiments et de l'eau, ce qui suggère une bio-accumulation du pesticide dans le poisson. Il y avait aussi des variations spatiales: les stations situées en aval avaient des concentrations statistiquement plus grandes dans toutes les matrices àP < 0,05. Il y avait des variations saisonnières, et les concentrations étaient plus élevées en saison sèche pour l'eau et les sédiments seulement, alors que les deux espèces de poissons présentaient une teneur plus élevée en saison des pluies. Les teneurs en endosulfan constatées étaient plus élevées que les normes écologiques (0,02 ,g/l) recommandées par l'Agence de protection environnementale du Nigeria et par l'Union européenne. Elles étaient aussi relativement plus élevées que celles décelées lors d'études antérieures de l'environnement au Nigeria, observation qui appelle à un suivi régulier des étendues d'eau du delta du Niger. [source]

Levels of selected heavy metals in Synodontis membranaceous Geoffr. in Forcados River, Niger Delta, Nigeria

AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
J. O. Djeresa
First page of article [source]

An investigation into the composition, complexity and functioning of snake communities in the mangroves of south-eastern Nigeria

AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2002
Luca Luiselli
Abstract The structure of the snake community was studied between 1996 and 2000 on a transect in the mangrove ecological zone of southern Nigeria, West Africa. In three major habitats, both taxonomical diversity and frequency of observations in relation to sampling effort were investigated. In general terms, the complexity of the snake community appeared less than in other habitats of the same geographic region (i.e. swamp forest and forest,plantation mosaics). In fact, only eighteen species were recorded, whereas 43 species are known to inhabit neighbouring habitats. A Principal Component Analysis allowed arrangement of the various species into two main groups in relation to the habitats of capture: (1) a group of species of rainforest biota (i.e. Toxicodryas blandingii, Thelotornis kirtlandii, Thrasops flavigularis, Rhamnophis aethiopissa, Gastropyxis smaragdina, Grayia smythii, Pseudohaje goldii, Python sebae), and (2) a group of species that, at least in Niger Delta, are typically linked to altered habitats, including derived savannas, plantations and suburbia (i.e. Psammophis cf. phillipsi, Philothamnus cf. nitidus, Hapsidophrys lineatus, Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia, Boaedon lineatus, Naja nigricollis, Python regius). The community structure in terms of food habits and body sizes appeared similar to those of other snake assemblages from different habitats of southern Nigeria. The conservation implications of our results are also discussed. Résumé On a étudié entre 1996 et 2000 la structure de la communauté des serpents dans un transect de la zone écologique de mangroves du sud du Nigeria, en Afrique de l'Ouest. On a étudié, dans trois habitats importants, la diversité taxonomique et la fréquence des observations par rapport à l'importance des échantillonnages. En termes généraux, la communauté des serpents y semblait moins complexe que dans d'autres habitats de la même région géographique (c.-à-d. la forêt marécageuse et une mosaïque de plantations forestières). En fait, on n'a rapporté que 18 espèces, alors qu'on sait que 43 espèces vivent dans les habitats voisins. Une Analyse du Composant Principal a permis de ranger les différentes espèces en deux groupes principaux, liés aux habitats où se sont faites les captures : (1) un groupe avec les espèces des biotes de forêt pluviale (Toxicodryas blandingii, Thelotornis kirtlandii, Thrasops flavigularis, Rhamnophis aethiopissa, Gastropyxis smaragdina, Grayia smythii, Pseudohaje goldii, Python sebae) et (2) un groupe d'espèces qui, au moins dans le delta du Niger, sont typiquement liées à des habitats dégradés, y compris des savanes dérivées, des plantations et des faubourgs urbains (Psammophis phillipsi, Philothamnus cf. nitidus, Hapsidophrys lineatus, Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia, Boaedon lineatus, Naja nigricollis, Python regius). La structure de la communauté, en ce qui concerne les habitudes alimentaires et la taille corporelle, était semblable à celle des autres groupes de serpents dans différents habitats du sud du Nigeria. On discute de l'implication de nos résultats pour la conservation. [source]

A RE-APPRAISAL OF THE APPLICATION OF ROCK-EVAL PYROLYSIS TO SOURCE ROCK STUDIES IN THE NIGER DELTA

Nigeria struggles to expand oil industry

OIL AND ENERGY TRENDS, Issue 2 2006
Article first published online: 14 FEB 200
Nigeria has recently announced a series of proposals to increase reserves and production and to expand and upgrade the refinery sector. These much-needed initiatives, however, are threatened by the mounting violence affecting the main onshore oil-producing areas of the Niger Delta. Peace needs urgently to be restored to this region if Nigeria's ambitious plans are to be realised as planned. So far, there is little sign of the government's ability to bring law and order back to this impoverished and troubled area. [source]

The challenges and opportunities of implementing the integrity pact as a strategy for combating corruption in Nigeria's oil rich Niger Delta region

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2010
Uwafiokun Idemudia
Abstract In recent years, significant local and transnational concerted initiatives have been instituted to curb the incidence of corruption that has undermined socio-economic development in Nigeria. Drawing on the critiques of such initiatives, and the experience from the process of implementing the Integrity Pact in the Niger Delta Development Commission, this article suggests that the Integrity Pact in principle offers real opportunities that can both reinforce and complement existing anti-corruption initiatives in Nigeria's public sector. However, political instability, lack of continuity in civil service leadership and limited capacity are core challenges that confront the successful implementation and institutionalisation of the Integrity Pact as a means of fighting corruption and meeting sustainable development objectives in the Niger Delta. The article concludes by considering the implications of the findings for the fight against corruption in Nigeria. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Zones of Exclusion: Offshore Extraction, the Contestation of Space and Physical Displacement in the Nigerian Delta and the Mexican Gulf

ANTIPODE, Issue 3 2009
Anna Zalik
Abstract:, This article examines two aid interventions that manifest the merging of community development/relief and industrial security policy in the petroleum offshore of the Nigerian Niger Delta and the Mexican Gulf. In the Nigerian case, the article considers the crisis in the Warri region of Delta State in 2003, the subsequent evacuation of local residents, and the surrounding context of oil-related violence. Simmering since the 1990s, the 2003 Warri conflict displaced thousands due to competing community claims to territory that "hosts" oil installations, Shell and Chevron primarily. In Mexico, the analysis centers on the implementation of 2003 Mexican security legislation, prompted by International Maritime Organization post 9/11 security policy, that amplifies the "Zone of Exclusion" around offshore installations. To offset the loss of livelihoods resulting from the "exclusion zone", Mexican state agencies offered financing to support the conversion of the displaced small-scale fishers to fish farming. The varying forms of displacement prompted by these two "liberating" interventions reflect the socio-historical specificity of territorial relations in the Nigerian and Mexican extractive regimes. These relations constitute divergent extractive settings which have come to play contrasting roles in the global political economy of oil, one highly volatile, the other relatively stable. [source]

Present-day stresses in Brunei, NW Borneo: superposition of deltaic and active margin tectonics

BASIN RESEARCH, Issue 2 2010
R. C. King
ABSTRACT The Baram Delta System, Brunei, NW Borneo, is a Tertiary delta system located on an active continental margin. Delta top regions in many Tertiary delta systems (e.g. Niger Delta) are thought to exhibit a normal-fault stress regime and margin-parallel maximum horizontal stress orientations. However, unlike in passive margin Tertiary delta systems, two present-day stress provinces have been previously identified across the Baram Delta System: an inner shelf inverted province with a margin-normal (NW,SE) maximum horizontal stress orientation and an outer shelf extension province with a margin-parallel (NE,SW) maximum horizontal stress orientation. Before this study, there were few data constraining the inverted province other than in the vicinity of the Champion Fields. New data from 12 petroleum wells in the western inner shelf and onshore west Brunei presented herein confirm the margin-normal maximum horizontal stress orientations of the inverted province. A total of 117 borehole breakouts, all documented in shale units, and one drilling-induced tensile fracture (in a sandstone interval) reveal a mean maximum horizontal stress orientation of 117 with a standard deviation of 19°. This orientation is consistent with contemporary margin-normal maximum horizontal stress orientations of the inverted province described previously in the vicinity of the Champion Fields that have been linked to basement tectonics of the Crocker,Rajang accretionary complex and associated active margin. However, stress magnitudes calculated using data from these 12 petroleum wells indicate a borderline strike,slip fault to normal fault stress regime for the present day; combined with the absence of seismicity, this suggests that the studied part of the NW Borneo continental margin is currently tectonically quiescent. [source]

Petroleum Industry Effluents and Other Oxygen-Demanding Wastes in Niger Delta, Nigeria

CHEMISTRY & BIODIVERSITY, Issue 7 2006

Abstract In this article, we review the fundamental phenomenon of oxygenation within the overriding context of petroleum-industry effluents and the other oxygen demanding wastes in Niger Delta, Nigeria. Drill cuttings, drilling mud (fluids used to stimulate the production processes), and accidental discharges of crude petroleum constitute serious land and water pollution in the oil-bearing province. Effluents from other industrial establishments such as distilleries, pulp and paper mills, fertilizer plants, and breweries, as well as thermal effluents, plant nutrients (such as nitrates and phosphates), and eroded sediments have also contributed to the pollution of their surrounding environment. Since these wastes are oxygen-demanding in nature, their impact on the recipient environment can be reversed by the direct application of simple chemistry. The wastes can be reduced, particularly in natural bodies of water, by direct oxidation,reduction processes or simple chemical combinations, acid,base reactions, and solubility equilibria; these are pH- and temperature-dependent. A shift in pH and alkalinity affects the solubility equilibria of Na+, Cl,, SO2,, NO, HCO, and PO, and other ions and compounds. [source]

The Isiokpo Oil-Pipeline Leakage: Total Organic Carbon/Organic Matter Contents of Affected Soils

CHEMISTRY & BIODIVERSITY, Issue 8 2005

The environmental impact of the 1997 leakage of the high-pressure crude-oil pipeline at Isiokpo in the Niger Delta in the southeast of Nigeria was evaluated, with particular reference to total-organic-carbon (TOC) and total-organic-matter (TOM) contents of soils within the vicinity of the oil spillage. The soils, taken from depths of 0,15,cm (surface) and 15,30,cm (subsurface), were found to be more acidic (pH,4.2,5.6) than the unpolluted soils, with a high average moisture content of 6.8%. The extractable hydrocarbon content ranged from 2.71,3.48,mg/kg, indicating hydrocarbon contamination. However, contrary to expectation, the TOC and TOM contents of the polluted soils did not show any significant increase in concentration, supposedly due to natural rehabilitation of the affected mat layer of soils. Thus, notwithstanding the possible proliferation of heterotrophic organisms by the presence of the added petroleum hydrocarbons, environmental conditions such as weathering and climatic predispositions, as well as physico-chemical parameters such as pH, moisture content, and temperature must have encumbered the carbon-mineralizing capacity of the heterotrophs, thereby reducing the turnover of carbon and the decomposition of organic matter. The restrictions by high moisture content might not come directly from H2O itself, but are probably a consequence of hindered soil ventilation, which reduces O2 supply and gaseous diffusion, conditions that might have been substantially aggravated by the added petroleum hydrocarbons. [source]

Post-Impact Assessment of Oil Pollution in Agbada West Plain of Niger Delta, Nigeria: Field Reconnaissance and Total Extractable Hydrocarbon Content

CHEMISTRY & BIODIVERSITY, Issue 10 2004

Typical post-impact assessment of an oil-spill-impacted site in Agbada west plain of the Niger Delta basin of Nigeria was carried out 13 months after recorded incidence of spillage, using empirical indices of reconnaissance and extractable hydrocarbon content. Field-reconnaissance surveys revealed lower species' numbers and diversity of surface and subterranean flora and fauna. The presence and absence of such plant species as Elaeis guineensis, Musanga cecropiodes, and Andropogon gayanus, as well as animal species like earthworms and nematodes in sampled plots, corroborated the evidence provided by the total extractable hydrocarbon content (of (2.53±0.43)×102,mg/kg and (2.00±0.76)×102,mg/kg at surface and subsurface depths, resp.) on the level of degradation and/or regeneration at the polluted site. The most important evidence that oiling must have been responsible, at least in part, for the reduction in species' number and diversity was provided by the plant cover, Andropogan gayanus, which occurred at a lower density of 0.9,plants/m2 in the oil-impacted plots and 14.00 plants/m2 in the unimpacted reference plots of an adjacent, geographically similar area. The presence of this species on site thus presented a significant difference (P<0.05) of over 85%, and indicated exhaustion or impoverishment of impacted soils. Elaeis guineensis, with a population density of 0.1,stands/m2, provided evidence of past cultivation on site, while species like Musanga cecropioides, with a density of 0.5,stands/m2, at the unimpacted site, confirmed the abandonment of the farmstead over a long period of time. For the fauna, the most sensitive indicator of hydrocarbon toxicity was provided by nematode Xiphinema sp. that were completely absent in the oil-impacted site. [source]