EMINENT DOMAIN Exercise of Power of Eminent Domain for Special Purposes: Provide Restrictions on Use of Eminent Domain Power by Petroleum Pipeline Companies

The Act requires petroleum pipeline companies to notify property owners of their rights before initiating eminent domain proceedings. The petroleum pipeline companies also must comply with a two-step application and review process. The Act contains provisions for public notices and hearings. Landowners must be compensated by the petroleum pipeline companies for any damages caused by surveying activities, property taken through the eminent domain proceeding, and unreasonable impacts of the property of the landowner that is not acquired by eminent domain

Poverty and Unemployment: Its Implications for Pipeline Vandalization in Nigeria

The challenges of petroleum pipeline vandalization have become more frequent and very disturbing. This is due largely to the extent of human lives and properties that are lost due to such occurrences. The understanding here is that the perpetrators of these acts are mostly young persons who ordinarily be tong to the active labour force but suffer from severe lack and want due to excruciating levels of poverty and unemployment. The economic situation in the country has gotten worse as the gap between the rich and the poor has widened. What has emerged across the country are agitated youths who desperately need to survive. With scarcity and hoarding of petroleum products and the flagrant increases in the prices of petroleum products coupled with the insensivity on the part of government to the plight of the masses, people have resorted to unlawful acts to get what they want. This paper therefore examines the role government and organizations interested in ameliorating the sufferings of the masses must do to address the challenges of poverty and unemployment with the hope that itwill help reduce petroleum pipeline vandalization and bring sanity to the society

The incidence of Nypa fruticans (Wurmb) and its impact on fisheries production in the Niger Delta mangrove ecosystem

Nypa fruticans occurs in Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River State, Nigeria; invading an estimated area of 821 Km super(2) mangrove dominated swamps. Human activities such as tree felling, urbanization, oil and gas exploration and exploitation and other activities led to the interference in the normal mangrove by the Nypa palm. Lack of utilization by the local population of the Nypa palm as in into-pacification has increased the population over the years. The effect includes the reduction in primary and secondary productivity, disruption of food chain and erosion of riverbanks. The eradication of the Nypa palm from the Niger delta mangrove ecosystem and replacement with red and white mangroves will restore the ecosystem health and enhance biological diversit

Development of a petroleum pipeline monitoring system for characterization of damages using a Fourier transform

Significant damage to the environment and huge economic losses are potential problems caused by leakage from petroleum pipelines. The occurrence of a leakage in a pipeline throughout its lifetime is very difficult to prevent. To minimize environmental damage and high economic losses, an efficient pipeline monitoring system is required to carry out damage characterization thereby enhancing quick response. The signal processing technique of sampling and reconstruction was adopted and mathematical algorithms for the characterization of damages in pipes were developed using the Fourier transform method. These were simulated with the results showing a good agreement between the shapes and magnitudes of the measured original and reconstructed pulses. The simulation was verified with experiments on the test rig. The results showed an underestimation in the magnitudes of the reconstructed pulses in the range of 40 – 45 %. This problem was solved by using a factor K obtained by dividing the maximum amplitude value of the original pressure pulse by that of the reconstructed pulse. Reconstruction of the measured original pulse at a damage location was achieved from combining the measured pulses from two other close locations using the developed Fourier transform based model. Keywords: Damage Pipeline-monitoring Characterization Fourier transform Reconstructio

Oil-dependence and Civil conflict in Nigeria

This paper examines oil-dependence and civil conflict in Nigeria focusing on the economic dynamics of resource-induced conflicts. It identifies two dimensions to oil-related civil conflict in the country. The first is the violent rent-seeking political violence that oil-availability generates between the various ethno-regional groups; the second is the Niger Delta crisis. The former is linked to excessive government dependence on oil revenues, an institutionally unstable revenue allocation system, weak political institutional arrangements, lack of effective agencies of restraints to demand transparency and accountability on the part of political office holders, failure to translate oil wealth to sustainable growth and increased standard of living for a larger majority of Nigerians, and a defective property right structure in relation to mineral resource endowment. Violence in the Niger Delta area is attributed, in the main, to weak institutional arrangements manifesting in poorly-conceived laws, lack of enforcement, .regulatory capture., and a marriage of interest between the State and oil companies which often encourage the State to use repressive measures against host communities in cases of disputes. There are also the looting and secession incentives as well as the rentseeking contests that oil-availability and the allure of ownership creates among local participants. Three factors (educational attainment, income level and asset possession) consistently explain the propensity to general violence among individuals in the region in the Ordered and Multinomial regressions on civil disobedience. The paper concludes with a discussion of some measures that may be used to break the conflict trap and overcome the corrupting influence of oil-dependence in Nigeria.

An analysis of the necessity and relevance of establishing a pipeline regulator in South Africa's Petroleum Industry

This thesis focuses on issues surrounding energy regulation, and specifically regulation of pipelines that carry petroleum products in South Africa. The introduction of a regulator for petroleum pipelines is part of an ongoing process taking center stage in the South African government's petroleum industry policy arena. Independent regulation of energy industries is a recent phenomenon in South Africa. There is much activity in deciding which regulatory models should be adopted in the energy sector. The thesis analyses a government policy decision to introduce a regulator of petroleum pipelines. Among some of the key issues that receive attention are the following: • Is the petroleum pipeline industry in South Africa large enough to justify an independent regulator? • Do pipelines in South Africa enjoy monopoly rents? If they do, is the establishment of an independent regulator the most cost-effective way of dealing with monopoly rents? • How effective would such a regulator be in the current structure of the country's petroleum industry? Road and rail transport systems carry vast quantities of petroleum products. Would it be more appropriate for the regulator to include all transporters of petroleum products? The thesis concludes that for an industry of such small size as pipeline transportation in South Africa, the necessity of a pipeline regulator might need to be reviewed. For a variety of reasons, there are strong reasons to conclude that a pipeline regulator will have minimum impact over key issues of the transportation of petroleum products

Progress on coal-derived fuels for aviation systems

The results of engineering studies of coal-derived aviation fuels and their potential application to the air transportation system are presented. Synthetic aviation kerosene (SYN. JET-A), liquid methane (LCH4) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) appear to be the most promising coal-derived fuels. Aircraft configurations fueled with LH2, their fuel systems, and their ground requirements at the airport are identified. Energy efficiency, transportation hazards, and costs are among the factors considered. It is indicated that LCH4 is the most energy efficient to produce, and provides the most efficient utilization of coal resources and the least expensive ticket as well

Preliminary Design of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UA V) for Petroleum Pipe Monitoring System

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or UA V has been designed by numerous inventors due to its importance in multiple industries. One major usage of UA V nowadays is for surveillance. This report basically discusses the progress done on the chosen topic, which is Preliminary Design of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UA V) for Petroleum Pipe Monitoring sYSTEM. The basic idea of this project is the design work. An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV; also known as a remotely piloted vehicle or RPV, or Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS)) is an aircraft that flies without a human crew on board the aircraft. The purpose of this project is to learn all the aspects of designing the preliminary design of UA V specifically for the use in monitoring the petroleum pipe system, onshore and offshore. So, the methodology for this project is more on designing the UA V by determining and investigating its specification that fulfill the need for that particular purpose. The scope of work for semester one final year project is to research more about UAV preliminary design that suitable for monitoring petroleum pipe system; both offshore and offshore. Other than that is investigating the suitable criteria and specifications as the factor that need to be considered for designing and drawing the final configuration. The second part of the project will covers the analysis of both aerodynamics and performance for the designed UAV. It also involved the final drawing ofthe UA V using AutoCAD 2008 according to its specifications. The objective of studies had been achieved upon the completion of the project