Characterization of Niger Delta Crude Oil by Infrared Spectroscopy

Abstract

Infrared spectroscopy was applied in characterizing crude oils from Niger Delta in terms of theirsource and thermal maturity. The samples were characterized based on the peak intensities of the aliphatic andthe carboxyl/carbonyl groups relative to the aromatics. Using this method, the oils classified mainly as oilderived from type 1 kerogen contrary to type U/lII already reported for Niger delta oil. The Vitrinite Reflectance(VR) values obtained from the VR equivalent grid ranged from 0.5 to 0.7%, indicating that the oils are of lowmaturity. The estimated VR determined from the IR spectra correlate favourably with available values in theliterature. The results of this study showed that Infrared spectroscopy might not be a good tool for oil sourcecharacterization but can be useful in determining oil maturity.