A Geospatial Assessment of the Risk of Groundwater Contamination from Oil Spill in Niger Delta, Nigeria

As a result of bunkering, accidents and equipment failure, oil spills are common in many oil-producing regions. In the Niger Delta, majority of these spills (~70%) are caused by oil theft, illegal tampering with oil pipelines and/or artisanal refining rather than regular operational procedures and equipment failures by licensed oil companies. Here, we integrate and analyze various open-source geospatial data to assess the risk of groundwater contamination triggered by approximately 850 oil spills that occurred from 2007 to 2021. Some of these open data sources include oil spill data from Nigerian agency responsible online (National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA). For the first time, we employ a source-pathway-receptor (S-P-R) model to evaluate this risk in the oil prolific Niger Delta on a regional scale. Our resulting risk map demonstrates three main classes of risk profiles in the region, namely low, moderate and high-risk zones; and further reveals groundwater contamination risk hotspots that were not previously known.