NEUTRON-ACTIVATION ANALYSIS OF NIGERIAN CRUDE OILS

A total of 40 crude oils from 10 different oil fields in Nigeria were analysed for 39 elements by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). Significant correlations were found between Ni and V concentrations and Ni versus Se concentrations. The American Petroleum Institute (API) gravities arc inversely correlated with total transition metal concentration of the oils but there is no obvious correlation of the V/Ni ratio with the age of the oil fields. The oils are very similar to North Alaska Type B oils in key transition metal parameters and cluster analysis results using the transition metals as variables indicate that the oils might have been formed from two closely related sources.