Economic Evaluation of Crop Farms Acquired for Crude Oil Production Activities in Rivers State of Nigeria

This study focused on the economic evaluation of crop farms acquired forcrude oil production activities in Rivers State, Nigeria. The objectivesinclude estimating the areas of crop farms acquired and economic evaluation of crops lost due to the various crude oil production activities in the state. A multistage sampling technique was used to collect data from 169 crop farmers whose farmland were affected with different crude oil exploration activities via questionnaires. The results showed that a total of 682.91ha of crop farms were acquired for crude oil exploration purposes out of which pipelines laying (25.21%), flow stations (21.51%) and oil well sites (20.34%) topped the list. The results further showed that the total value of economic loss due to crude oil production activities was $165,287.10 out of which pipelines laying accounted for $43,741.25, flow stations ($36,387.92), oil well sites ($31,334.67), gas flaring sites ($10,485.63). The study showed that large areas of crop farms in the state were acquired for crude oil production activities. Due to the small scale nature of farms in Nigeria, a lot of crop farmers in Rivers State were negatively affected which had resulted into agitation for resource control, continuous violence, conflicts, protests and impoverishment. Keywords: Crude oil production activities, crop farms, areas acquired,economic evaluation, Rivers State Nigeria