Gas flaringis the burning of natural gas and petroleum hydrocarbons in flare stacks by upstream oil companies in oil fields during operations. Gas flaring is the singular and most common source of global warming and contributes to emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen (II) oxide and methane which have the propensity of causing environmental pollution and ecological disturbances or destruction. This research explore and presents a method of analysing the environmental impact of gas flaring in the Niger Delta so to provide the data required for the complete analysis and evaluation of the various observed and noted health and environmental effects of gas flaring in Niger Delta. The major environmental impacts considered in the study are environmental pollution, and ecological disturbance or destruction. Several visitations to the neighbouring communities adjacent to most gas flare locations were carried out to ascertain any existence of common environmental hazards. Data was gathered through a well designed and articulating oral and written questionnaires, direct and first-hand observation of their environment, and comprehensive interview sessions with community heads (royal authorities where possible), patients and youth. Different samples at various proximities from the gas flare locations were taken and measurements and experimentations were meticulously carried out. The result obtained in this research shows a marked trend as all the parameters considered showed a gradient away from the flare point in all the flow stations such as soil pH changing from acidic (4.0-4.2) to near neutral (6.4-6.6) away from the flare points and the average low soil moisture content of (17%-23%) as against 40% for the (10m and 20m) and control distance. The quantity of carbon emitted by these flare is about 2525000.00 tonnes of carbon per day. These values portray a bad omen for the affected communities. This study recommends that gas flaring should be seen as violet action against the people and that the flared gas should be channelled to meeting the ever increasing demand for energy in the industrial sector of the economy.

This study assessed and modelled the accumulation of heavy metals in the seeds of Zea mays L. (maize) planted in a crude oil impacted soil. A total of thirteen soil samples were randomly collected. Five samples each were obtained from plot A (PA)and plot B (PB); the crude oil impacted plots. Three samples were obtained from plot C (PC); the control plot which was about 200 m away from the spill impacted area. All samples were analysed for Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) and Heavy Metals [iron (Fe), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr) and vanadium (V)]. Maize was planted on each of the thirteen plots and the seeds upon harvest was analysed for heavy metals (Fe, Pb, Zn, Cr and V). The seed accumulation factors for each heavy metal was modelled using TPH as the independent variable. Aside the Zn regression model with R2 value of 0.399, other models performed well with R2 values of 0.994, 0.942, 0.974 and 0.964 for Fe, Pb, Cr and V respectively. TPH was able to model the seed parameters with relatively high model performance except for Zinc. This suggests that accumulation of some heavy metals in the seed of the Zea mays L. planted is dependent on TPH. These models can be useful in predicting accumulation of heavy metals in the seeds of Maize planted in a crude oil polluted soil.

Recovery efficiency is very important in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes as it helps in the planning, design and selection of EOR methods that will be technically and economically feasible. In this study, Simulation on hot CO 2 flooding is conducted using data from Niger Delta heavy oil reservoir. The compositional simulation process was carried out in ECLIPSE 300 compositional oil simulator. The recovery efficiency and injection calculations were modeled and simulated in Matlab. Numerical equations enabled the determination of the residual oil saturation and the consequent calculation of the injection and recovery before and after solvent breakthroughs. CO 2 of 0.095cp viscosity was injected at pressure of 3500 psia and 200°F to heat up the reservoir at payzone and reduce the viscosity of the reservoir oil at in-situ reservoir condition. The reservoir oil initially at 14.23cp at initial reservoir temperature and pressure was heated and reduced to a viscosity of 2cP making the oil mobile and amenable to flow. Results show recovery of the process before and after breakthroughs. CO 2 breakthrough was realized after 221 days of the flooding process. Of the 2461.2 ft distance from the injection wells to the producer well, CO 2 reached only a distance of 100 ft at breakthrough. Out of the 2.77 PV total volume of CO 2 injected in the flooding process, 0.1222 PV of CO 2 was injected as at breakthrough. The recovery efficiency result show that the displacement efficiency at CO 2 breakthrough and at the end of the flooding process are 15.17% and 78.63% respectively while the areal sweep efficiency at CO 2 breakthrough and at the end of the flooding process are 44.02% and 93.32% respectively. The low displacement and areal sweep efficiency at breakthrough were due to early breakthrough of CO 2 which did not allow sufficient period of time for the CO 2 to contact considerable portions of the reservoir given its viscous nature. Furthermore, at CO 2 breakthrough time, the injected hot CO 2 had no sufficient time to soak the reservoir and reduce the viscosity of the oil; as such only a small fraction of the in-situ oil became mobile. An overall recovery efficiency of 73.33% realized in the flooding process signifies favourable flooding design hence is recommended for the development and recovery of Niger Delta heavy oilfield.

Every resource produced by a country should by necessity satisfy the needs and demands of its populace before consideration is made for export. This will ensure that a country is sufficient in production and allocation of its resources. While Nigeria is regarded internationally as a major gas producer in the world, her local consumption of natural gas is limited due to unavailability of gas for domestic utilisations fuelled by large margins between domestic and international pricing of natural gas. At the international markets, the gas attracts higher price due to market conditions while the prices are relatively lower at the domestic level probably due to limited routes of utilisation of the resource. Because of this, gas producers prefer to sell their commodity at the international market creating scarcity at the local levels. This has heralded underdevelopment of the manufacturing sector and indigenous companies in Nigeria that thrive on natural gas. This situation can be ameliorated by developing a gas price model for effective utilization and distribution of gas in Nigeria. The model will determine the optimum price that producers should sale their gas to make profit and also make gas available locally. In this study, emphasis is made on the development of a domestic gas supply and utilisation price model for effective gas distribution in Nigeria. The model incorporates the cost of producing a unit volume of gas by the gas producer, the energy value of the gas and the quantity of the gas demanded locally. The model is based on the gas produced, utilised, flared, domestic gas requirement and the aggregate price of gas produced for the various companies. Results show that the total revenue accruable from flare is $1.877B/yr which is higher than the total revenue accruable from DGSO deficit which is $0.595B/Yr. Thus, it is better that companies resort not to flaring. Analysis of the results also shows that companies are provided incentive by the model which closes gas deficit gap through a reduction in gas penalty price. Therefore, it serves as direct incentives to companies who meet with their DGSO. The results show that the gas deficit and flare penalty price has a direct impact on the flare penalty.

Aims: The aim of this study is to find the alterations that occurred in the physico-chemical properties and the hydrocarbon content on the crude oil impacted soil in Kom-Kom, Oyigbo, Rivers State Niger Delta, Nigeria. Study Design: The objectives included to evaluate the physico-chemical parameters of the spilled soil, determine the hydrocarbon content and that of some selected heavy metals. This will help create a baseline data on the environmental status of the area. Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out after an oil spill occurred in Feburary, 2018 at Kom-Kom, Oyigbo, Rivers State, Nigeria. Methodology: The soil samples were obtained randomly at 30cm depth using soil auger from three plots: PA and PB being the plots around the oil spill impacted area and PC being the control area which is about 200m away. Laboratory analyses were carried out on the Physicochemical Parameters (pH, Electric Conductivity, Potassium (K), Phosphate (P), Nitrate (N)); Organics (Total Hydrocarbon Content (THC), Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH), Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC)) and Heavy Metals (Iron (PB), Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb), Chromium (Cr), Vanadium (V)). The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and One-Way ANOVA. Results: pH, K and P values were all significantly different from their respective control values (p ≤0.05). All organic parameters were also significantly different from the control values (p ≤0.05). For heavy metals, only Cr and V values were significantly different in all study sites (p ≤0.05). This study shows that crude oil spill alters the physicochemical attributes of the soil and could significantly affect soil fertility as the people of Kom-Kom are mostly farmers and traders. Conclusion: With these levels of alteration, this study will serve as a resourceful data source for soil studies in Kom Kom. In order to achieve the third sustainable development goal (SDG) which is to have good health and well-being of people, we recommend immediate and proper clean up using bioremediation approaches as a cheap, eco-friendly and an environmentally sustainable process.