Paleoenvironments and Hydrocarbon Potential of Upper Cretaceous Shales in Agbabu-1 Well, Dahomey Basin SW Nigeria

Upper Cretaceous shales partially exposed in the northern fringes of the Dahomey Basin are well developed in the subsurface in Southwestern part of the basin where Agbau-1 well is sited. These shales were evaluated in respect to their paleoenvironments and potentials for hydrocarbon using foraminiferal assemblages, biomarkers and Rock Eval pyrolysis studies. The dominance of benthonic foraminifera species suggests a shallow marine environment and high percentage of calcareous to arenaceous benthic www.eujournal.org 195foraminifera indicate high water salinity and hypersline environment. Dysoxic oxygen condition is also prevalent probably because most of the benthic foraminifera recovered are epifauna that live in a reduced oxygen condition. 1.90 wt%, 244 mgHC/gTOC and 429℃ average values of total organic carbon, hydrogen index and Tmax reveal that the Upper Cretaceous shales have relatively fair to good organic matter, predominantly Type II-III kerogen and currently immature. Though three is a trend of an increase in maturity down the hole. All the steranes have uniform distributions (C27>C28>C29), suggesting a relatively higher input from the marine red algae and a low level of land plant contribution to the source organic matter. Pristane/phytane ratios and C29/C27 steranes confirmed the organic matter type to be a Type II/III and anoxic source rock depositional condition as well as a reducing diagenetic system in the sediment water column. The Upper Cretaceous shales in Dahomey Basin can be targeted for exploration as an unconventional petroleum resource.

Defining Uncertainty: Comparing Resource/Reserve Classification Systems for Coal and Coal Seam Gas

Transparent, objective, and repeatable resource assessments should be the goal of companies, investors, and regulators. Different types of resources, however, may require different approaches for their quantification. In particular, coal can be treated both as a solid resource (and thus be mined) as well as a reservoir for gas (which is extracted). In coal mining, investment decisions are made based on a high level of data and establishment of seam continuity and character. The Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code) allows deposits to be characterised based on the level of geological and commercial certainty. Similarly, the guidelines of the Petroleum Resource Management System (PRMS) can be applied to coal seam gas (CSG) deposits to define the uncertainty and chance of commercialisation. Although coal and CSG represent two very different states of resources (i.e., solid vs. gaseous), their categorisation in the JORC Code and PRMS is remarkably similar at a high level. Both classifications have two major divisions: resource vs. reserve. Generally, in either system, resources are considered to have potential for eventual commercial production, but this has not yet been confirmed. Reserves in either system are considered commercial, but uncertainty is still denoted through different subdivisions. Other classification systems that can be applied to CSG also exist, for example the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook (COGEH) and the Chinese Standard (DZ/T 0216-2020) and both have similar high-level divisions to the JORC Code and PRMS. A hypothetical case study of a single area using the JORC Code to classify the coal and PRMS for the gas showed that the two methodologies will have overlapping, though not necessarily aligned, resource and reserve categories.

Empirical Characterization of Heavy Metals in Crude Oil Spill Sites in Emohua, Rivers State, Nigeria

The study assessed the concentration of heavy metals in three oil spill sites in Emohua local government area in Rivers State, Nigeria. Soil samples were collected at depth 0-30cm for surface soil samples and up to 10m for sub-surface soil samples depending on the depth of borehole. Groundwater samples were collected from drilled boreholes while the surface water samples were collected from fishponds or water bodies (rivers) close to the oil spill sites. The samples taken from the oil spill sites were analysed to determine the level of concentration of 10 Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR) specified heavy metals (Cd, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr, Ba, Ni, Hg, As, and Co). BUCK Scientific Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) was used in detecting the concentration of the heavy metals. For the surface soil, Pb concentration in site A and B were significantly higher than what was obtained at site C, with a mean concentration of 219.70, 130.01 and 3.41mg/kg respectively for the three sites. The mean lead (Pb) concentration obtained in the surface soil was within DPR and United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) acceptable limits. Barium also has significant concentration in both the surface soil and sub-surface soil. Kruskal Wallis test indicated significant difference in the Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Cr and Ba concentration in surface/topsoil among the three sites and also indicated significant difference in the concentrations of Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Ba and As in sub-surface soil among the sites. Little heavy metal concentration was found in both the groundwater and surface water. The study showed that even if some heavy metals were detected at the oil spill sites, they do not pose any serious health risk, as all the heavy metals in the four environmental media at the three sampling sites were below the national limit stipulated by the Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR), Nigeria.

Development of the Petroleum Resource Specifications and Guidelines PRSG – A Petroleum Classification System for the Energy Transition

The Petroleum Working Group (PWG) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has developed the Petroleum Resource Specifications and Guidelines (PRSG) to facilitate the application of the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC) for evaluating and classifying petroleum projects. The UNFC was developed by the Expert Group on Resource Management (EGRM) and covers all resource sectors such as minerals, petroleum, renewable energy, nuclear resources, injection projects, anthropogenic resources and groundwater. It has a unique three- dimensional structure to describe environmental, social and economic viability (E-axis), technical feasibility and maturity (F-axis) and degree of confidence in the resource estimates (G-axis). The UNFC is fully aligned to holistic and sustainable resource management called for by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda). UNFC can be used by governments for integrated energy planning, companies for developing business models and the investors in decision making. Internationally, all classification systems and their application continue to evolve to incorporate the latest technical understanding and usage and societal, government and regulatory expectations. The PRSG incorporates key elements from current global petroleum classification systems. Furthermore, it provides a forward-thinking approach to including aspects of integrity and ethics. It expands on the unique differentiator of the UNFC to integrate social and environmental issues in the project evaluation. Several case studies have been carried out (in China, Kuwait, Mexico, Russia, and Uganda) using UNFC. Specifically, PRSG assists in identifying critical social and environmental issues to support their resolution and development sustainably. These issues may be unique to the country, location and projects and mapped using a risk matrix. This may support the development of a road map to resolve potential impediments to project sanction. The release of the PRSG comes at a time of global economic volatility on a national and international level due to the ongoing impact and management of COVID-19, petroleum supply and demand uncertainty and competing national and international interests. Sustainable energy is not only required for industries but for all other social development. It is essential for private sector development, productive capacity building and expansion of trade. It has strong linkages to climate action, health, education, water, food security and woman empowerment. Moreover, enduring complex system considerations in balancing the energy trilemma of reliable supply, affordability, equity, and social and environmental responsibility remain. These overarching conditions make it even more essential to ensure projects are evaluated in a competent, ethical and transparent manner. While considering all the risks, it is also critical to reinforce the positive contribution a natural resource utilization project provides to society. Such an inquiry can focus on how the project contributes to the quality of life, environment, and the economy – the people, planet, and prosperity triad. Such an approach allows consistent, robust and sustainable investment decision making and energy policy development.

Ethics, resource rent, environment and petroleum policy: the case of a small open economy

This paper contributes to the understanding of how the environment, ethics, values, and historical contingencies shape public policy. It explains the accomplishment of petroleum resource management in the small open economy of Norway. The study is conducted by mapping policy decisions and the arguments behind them regarding environmental and ethical issues. This is done by studying available governmental and parliamentary papers along with statements from politicians and central governmental officials. The paper also seeks to illuminate some of the decisions by quantitative measures. The paper firstly describes a model of Ricardian resource rent. Secondly, it investigates the set of values that were in place before the petroleum production started in the 1970s, as described in public documents. An important argument was to build a “qualitatively better society” for the benefit of the people. Thirdly, it traces the historical roots of these values by examining historical sources.The main findings are that success lies in understanding the ethics behind the environmental resource rent harvesting of this non-renewable natural resource. The paper concludes that the focus on the natural environment and resource rent management can be attributed to popular values built on historical traditions. According to them, the state and the trust between the state and its citizens played key roles in shaping the policy. The careful policy can be illustrated by the fact that Norway has managed to build one of the largest sovereign funds in the world worth USD 1,200 billion for use by future generations. Only 3% of its value, significantly less than its historical net profit, should be used annually.

Decommissioning and rehabilitation: funding models

Decommissioning oil and gas facilities and rehabilitating a petroleum operation area involve complex, lengthy and costly processes. Funding the liability for the decommissioning and rehabilitation phase of a petroleum project is determined by the juxtaposition of a matrix of three fundamental and closely interdependent policy decisions on: whose obligation it is (the proponent, the state or both) to carry out decommissioning, whose liability it is (the proponent, the state or both) to pay for decommissioning and which decommissioning funding model is appropriate for the proponent and/or the government (if there is state participation). Proponent models may include funding with or without security or contributions to a decommissioning fund. Government funding models are inextricably linked with the imposition, collection and appropriation of the fiscal take applying to the oil and gas sector. There are therefore many variants in the responses to, and stance taken, on the above policy issues. It is, however, universally accepted that the state should not be inadvertently left with the ultimate obligation and/or the liability for decommissioning and rehabilitation. The preferred policy choice involves finely balancing the interests of the state without disincentivising private sector investment in the development of the petroleum resource. This study will review the pros and cons of the main alternative funding models typically used internationally, the status of Australia’s decommissioning funding and associated fiscal policies, whether and to what extent the Australian government participates in the funding of decommissioning and rehabilitation undertakings and proposed improvements to the policy design settings.

Petroleum Resource Exploration System: As the Dongying Depression, Bohai Bay Basin, China

Bohai Bay Basin is a hot area for research marine petroleum. Petroleum System is an important method to study petroleum. However, facing on more complicated middle-high graded petroleum exploration area, formerly elements of the Petroleum System are not enough to cover all factors. Hydrocarbon was controlled by main migration path, additionally the complicated mechanism and controlling factors in a formed oil-gas pool are carefully considered. We put “track down (oil-gas reservoir) by following clues (the main migration path of petroleum)” based on the Dongying Depression data, and drill the best of all targets for oil-gas reservoir on the condition of revealing oil resource. The venture of petroleum exploration can be reduced farthest, and the benefit of petroleum exploration can be increased farthest by the method.