The Effect of Biodegradation in Some Aromatic Compounds in Oils of Yolde Formation, Upper Benue Trough, Nigeria

Abstract

Four Yolde Formation oils sand were analyzed using the Gas chromatography mass 
spectrometry (GC/MS) with the aim of tracking the effects and increasing our 
understanding on the effect of oil biodegradation on the oil extract of Yolde 
Formation using some aromatic compounds. Results obtained revealed the 
presence of unresolved complex mixture (UCM) humps in the total ion current (TICs) 
of all the studied oils consistent with biodegradation. It was also observed that the 
effect of water washing on the aromatic compounds increases with biodegradation 
in the studied oils. This is attributed to the fact that biodegradation ensues 
concurrently with water washing. It was also observed that phenanthrene 
decreases with biodegradation in all the studied oils, while Methylphenanthrene 
and Methyldibenzothiophine (MDBT) increases with biodegradation. The studied 
oils are observed to be at different levels of biodegradation which accounted for the 
variance seen in some of the results.