BIODEGRADATION OF BONNYLIGHT CRUDE OIL BY BACTERIA FROM SOIL AND WATER SAMPLES COLLECTED FROM NNPC DEPOT IN ORE TOWN OF ONDO STATE
BIODEGRADATION OF BONNYLIGHT CRUDE OIL BY BACTERIA FROM SOIL AND WATER SAMPLES COLLECTED FROM NNPC DEPOT IN ORE TOWN OF ONDO STATE CHAPTER ONE 1.1 INTRODUCTION Petroleum is at present Nigeria’s and indeed the world’s most important derived energy source (Moffat and Linden, 2005). Petroleum in its natural state is referred to as crude oil (Ukoli, 2003). Crude oil is mainly either black or green but it can also be light yellow (Onifade et al., 2007). It varies considerably in density and is described as heavy, average or light (Ojo and Adebusuyi, 1996). Crude oil is one of the most significant pollutants in the environment as it is capable of causing serious damages to humans and the ecosystem (Okpokwasili, 1996). Crude oil is a complex mixture of thousands of hydrocarbons and non-hydrocarbon compounds including heavy metals. It is the largest and most important source of hydrocarbons (Hunt, 1996). Crude oil varies in appearance and composition from one oil kind to another (Craig, 2...