ABSTRACT

Tar sand consists of sands, bitumen (the heavy oil in the sand) and clay which is rich in mineral and water. Bitumen which is a sticky black substance when extracted contains various impurities and hence require chemical purification process or “upgrading” in order to make it a suitable refinery feedstock.

The tar sand deposit in Nigeria is found along the Dahomey coastal sedimentary basin and it has a potential of over 30 billion barrels of reserves. Bitumen exploitation in these tar sand deposits has great potential for added growth of Nigeria's industrial and economic activities.

The need for tar sand as a potential crude oil source both in Nigeria and in the wider oil industry, is highlighted due to the increasing rate of finding cheap heavy oils in contrast to the declining rate of finding large conventional oil fields which has put the use of heavy oils (bitumen) as an alternative to the declining conventional reserves.

Also, the refining of heavy oils has been boosted as the cheap heavy oils have given refiners added incentive to upgrade their equipment, therefore poorer quality oils are better refined now than in the past and the cost of production of the crude oil obtained from tar sands continues to fall as a result of new technologies. These crude oils that are obtained from tar sands are now also competitive in today’s market.

All these factors support the great potential of bitumen and tar sands to the Nigerian economy.

The country stands a lot to gain if it exploits and develops its tar sand resources as there are many economic benefits that will follow. These benefits include; increased revenue for the government, socio-economic benefits like job creation for Nigerians and the host communities in particular, as well as security of energy supply for a number of years among many other benefits.