The focus of this study is to understand the prevalence of corrosion-related failures in Nigeria Oil/Gas Industry
and seek ways to arrest the degradation of the facilities. The hash environmental conditions are known to
severely affect the equipment integrity i.e., the exposure causes corrosion of the equipment. Events in the
industry show that failures of these equipment have occurred due to corrosive action. The failures have led to
environmental impacts such as spills and releases to the environment, others have led to production shut-ins
with loss of revenue. All these touch the business bottom line which is costs and profits. Different oil/gas
facilities in Niger-Delta were studied through site visits, observations, measurements and photographic analysis.
The study established that location of the various equipment makes them susceptible to weathering effects.
They experience cycles of rains, sunshine and humid ambience. Crevice, galvanic, pitting and “dry corrosion”
mechanisms are dominant and, in some, result in uniform corrosion. There were cases of bacteria-related attacks
on the internals of some equipment. The average metal thickness loss was established at about 12.5%. Use of
more modern corrosion protection measures should be considered including increased deployment of corrosionresistant alloys. Heavy coatings of the tank roofs under sides with anti-corrosive agents prior erection are
required. Welded rather than bolted and riveted connections should be designed to minimize crevices where
deep pittings are known to occur. Reinforcements with closed tubular sections are preferred to channel sections
to avoid trapping of corrodents.
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