THE DISTRIBUTION OF LIGHT HYDROCARBONS IN WESTERN NIGER DELTA OILS
C. I. Eneogwe*1
*CTOP - NIGERIA, P.O.Box 6046, San Ramon, CA., 94583-0946, USA.
1Present address: Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Geochemistry Laboratory, Qua Iboe Terminal, 3225 Gallows Road, Fairfax VA 22037-0002, USA.
Email: chidi.i.eneogwe@exxonmobil.com
Fifty-one oils from eleven fields in the Western Niger Delta were analyzed for their C7 hydrocarbon contents. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis and Principal Component Analysis was used to discriminate the oils into four sets which were distinct in all the seven variables used in the cluster analysis. Methylcyclohexane and toluene were the most important discriminating variables. In spite of this separation into four sets, all the oils were found to exhibit a high six-ring preference (6RP). The distribution of C7 hydrocarbons in the oils indicated that two of the eleven fields are homogenous in terms of oil type, whereas the rest are not.