CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The inevitable and disastrous consequence of crude oil pollution for the biotic and
abiotic components of the ecosystem has been a major source of concern to the
government and people living in oil producing and industrialized countries. This had led
to ethnic and regional crises in the Niger Delta region that generated significant tension
between them and the multinational oil companies operating in the region (Vidal,
2010).Crude oil exploration, production and transportation in the Niger Delta region have
increased tremendously since its discovery in Nigeria in 1956 and has become a veritable
source of economic growth and the main stay of the Nigerian economy (Okoh, 2006).The
global scale of oil production is staggering and its demand is in the order of 3.25 x 109
tones or 3.8 x 1012 liters per year and much of it is transported thousands of kilometers
before it is used (Prince and Lessard, 2004).
Crude oil is a complex mixture of organic compounds including volatile aromatic
fractions and less volatile aliphatic fractions. The main constituents of crude oil are the
elements hydrogen (10 – 40%) and carbon (83 - 87%). Various types of crude oil contain
small quantities of sulphur, nitrogen, oxygen and trace metals such as vanadium, nickel,
iron and copper which are not usually found in refined petroleum (Atlas and Bartha,
1973). Individual chemical composition of each crude petroleum however, depends on its
origin and location and has a unique mixture of molecules which defines its physical and
chemical properties. Crude oil has been part of the biosphere for millennia and has been
used since ancient times in one form or the other and has risen in importance due to rise
in commercial aviation, invention of internal combustion engines and the increasing use
of pesticides, fertilizers and plastics which are mostly made from oil (Okoh, 2006).
Soil is an extremely complex, dynamic and living medium, formed by mineral
particles, organic matter, water, air and living organisms. It establishes the interface
between earth, air and water and performs many vital functions. The importance of soil
for the survival of plants has become apparent due to numerous services it renders,
ranging from filtration of ground water, removal of pathogens, degradation of organics,
recycling of nutrients on which agriculture thrives and provision of raw materials for
industries which are of economic value. Human activities such as the production,
transportation, storage and sometimes vandalization of oil facilities accidentally release
large quantities of crude oil and its fractions to marine and terrestrial environments
thereby posing a long term threat to the soil and the services it renders (Blum, 1997).
Crude oil is a fossil fuel derived from ancient fossilized organic material. The
fossilization processes include the initial process of diagenesis and the final or
completion process called catagenesis. The initial process of diagenesis occurs at
temperatures at which microbes partially degrade the biomass and result in dehydration,
condensation, cyclisation and polymerization of the biomass. Subsequent burial under
more sediments at higher temperature and pressure allows catagenesis to complete the
transformation of the biomass to fossil fuel by thermal cracking and decarboxylation
(Prince and Lessard, 2004).
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The inevitable and disastrous consequence of crude oil pollution for the biotic and
abiotic components of the ecosystem has been a major source of concern to the
government and people living in oil producing and industrialized countries. This had led
to ethnic and regional crises in the Niger Delta region that generated significant tension
between them and the multinational oil companies operating in the region (Vidal,
2010).Crude oil exploration, production and transportation in the Niger Delta region have
increased tremendously since its discovery in Nigeria in 1956 and has become a veritable
source of economic growth and the main stay of the Nigerian economy (Okoh, 2006).The
global scale of oil production is staggering and its demand is in the order of 3.25 x 109
tones or 3.8 x 1012 liters per year and much of it is transported thousands of kilometers
before it is used (Prince and Lessard, 2004).
Crude oil is a complex mixture of organic compounds including volatile aromatic
fractions and less volatile aliphatic fractions. The main constituents of crude oil are the
elements hydrogen (10 – 40%) and carbon (83 - 87%). Various types of crude oil contain
small quantities of sulphur, nitrogen, oxygen and trace metals such as vanadium, nickel,
iron and copper which are not usually found in refined petroleum (Atlas and Bartha,
1973). Individual chemical composition of each crude petroleum however, depends on its
origin and location and has a unique mixture of molecules which defines its physical and
chemical properties. Crude oil has been part of the biosphere for millennia and has been
used since ancient times in one form or the other and has risen in importance due to rise
in commercial aviation, invention of internal combustion engines and the increasing use
of pesticides, fertilizers and plastics which are mostly made from oil (Okoh, 2006).
Soil is an extremely complex, dynamic and living medium, formed by mineral
particles, organic matter, water, air and living organisms. It establishes the interface
between earth, air and water and performs many vital functions. The importance of soil
for the survival of plants has become apparent due to numerous services it renders,
ranging from filtration of ground water, removal of pathogens, degradation of organics,
recycling of nutrients on which agriculture thrives and provision of raw materials for
industries which are of economic value. Human activities such as the production,
transportation, storage and sometimes vandalization of oil facilities accidentally release
large quantities of crude oil and its fractions to marine and terrestrial environments
thereby posing a long term threat to the soil and the services it renders (Blum, 1997).
Crude oil is a fossil fuel derived from ancient fossilized organic material. The
fossilization processes include the initial process of diagenesis and the final or
completion process called catagenesis. The initial process of diagenesis occurs at
temperatures at which microbes partially degrade the biomass and result in dehydration,
condensation, cyclisation and polymerization of the biomass. Subsequent burial under
more sediments at higher temperature and pressure allows catagenesis to complete the
transformation of the biomass to fossil fuel by thermal cracking and decarboxylation
(Prince and Lessard, 2004).
