APPLICATION OF GIS AND REMOTE SENSING IN SPATIAL LOCATION OF OIL AND GAS PLATFORMS IN THE NIGER DELTA

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the uses of GIS and

Remote Sensing as a strategic tool for locating the positions of oil and gas

fields. It has revealed the ability of GIS tool to develop database showing all

the layers used for the study from logical to physical database design, bringing to the public domain, the

applications of GIS and RS technologies using geospatial data in locating oil

and gas platforms in the Niger Delta and in Akwa Ibom State. This work has

exposed the vast applications of the use of Geospatial technologies in

proffering solutions in environmental and non-environmental problems in our

society. Its advantage is handling bulky dataset

in the forms of spatial and attributes data. GIS demonstrated that spatial

locations can be analyzed by the use of various tools like The Average nearest Neighbor Analysis,

Getis-Ord General G-test Analysis, Spatial Auto-correlation, Cluster and

outlier Analysis. Results from this study can be useful to oil regulators

and operators in addressing occurrences like oil spills and pipeline vandalism.

It may also be useful to consider alternative location by relocating oil

facilities to minimize impact of these possible occurrences on nearby

communities.