Abstract

The Nigerian oil sands are very extensive with an estimated in place reserves of bitumen/heavy oil of over 30 billion barrels. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) has been used to determine the trace and minor elements in the raw oil sands and bitumens. About 43 trace elements in the raw oil sands and 30 in bitumen extracts were determined. The results are compared with values of Canadian bitumens and some Nigerian conventional light crude oils. In general, the Nigerian bitumens has higher hydrocarbon concentration than the Athabasca bitumen but slightly lower than in the Nigerian crude oils. The sulphur, vanadium and nickel contents of the Nigerian bitumens and crude oils are appreciably lower than those of Athabasca bitumen, thus indicating that the extraction and refining of Nigerian tar sand oil would pose less technological and environmental problems than the Athabasca syncrude.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.