PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE TO THE MARKETING OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS IN NIGERIA
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PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE TO THE MARKETING OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS IN NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
This study investigated the significance of pipeline transportation in the marketing of petroleum products in Nigeria. To this aim, 83 employees from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) offices in Enugu and Port-Harcourt were chosen at random to serve as the study sample.
The 83 study participants were given 83 copies of structured questionnaires to complete. Their responses were utilised to test the four hypotheses developed for this study. The results of the tests/analyses indicated the following conclusions.
i. Pipelines enable successful distribution and marketing of petroleum products in Nigeria.
ii. Pipelines lower the cost of transporting and selling petroleum products in Nigeria.
iii. Pipeline vandalism is a serious impediment to the efficient use of pipelines for petroleum product distribution and marketing in Nigeria.
iii. Alarm systems and police patrols will lower the frequency of pipeline vandalism in Nigeria. Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Pipeline transportation is Nigeria’s youngest mode of transportation. It has gotten little attention due to two key reasons. One is that it has a relatively recent history.
Two, its operations and services are not under the control of private individuals or companies. As a result, the federal government controls all aspects of pipeline transportation in Nigeria.
According to Kupoheyi (2000), pipes have been used to transport goods for ages. Pipelines are therefore utilised to distribute potable water in metropolitan areas.
Though urban water pipeline networks are often short, they follow the same basic principles as those used to distribute petroleum products. It’s worth noting that pipelines were originally utilised for water distribution.
Later, they were used to transfer gases and other liquids within plants, between plants, and between places for separation. Today, pipelines are commonly employed to transfer petroleum products and solids dispersed in liquids over large distances.
Olakunori (2000) reported that petroleum pipelines were only recently discovered in Nigeria. According to him, the following items are poured through the Nigeria pipelines.
– Premium motor spirit (PMS), sometimes known as petrol.
– Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), sometimes known as diesel.
– Household kerosene (HHK).
In addition to this, avaiation turbine kerosene (ATW), sometimes known as avgas, is frequently pumped from Mosimi to Ikeja Airport. Pumping is typically done in butches ranging from 15000 to 50000 cubic metres so as to avoid contamination.
The delivery of various product classes into storage is closely monitored and managed by control centres in Mosimi, Warri, Kaduna, and Port Harcourt. Once pumping begins and a product leaves the refinery tanks, its arrival time to any given depot is clearly predicted. (Olusunmade, 2001).
Liquefied natural gas (LPG) is transported via the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline (ELP), which is devoted to gas. This is now the country’s only operational gas pipeline (Adeyinka 2000).
According to Udensi (1999), the Nigerian government plans to expand the gas pipeline to other West African countries in order to promote gas use and capitalise on commercial potential in the subregion. Some of the countries in this regard are.
– Togo
– Benin Republic
– Ghana
– Sierra Leone
— Burkina Faso
– Cape Verde
– Gambia
– Mali
– Mauritania
– Guinea and Chad.
According to Ike (1999), the building of phases I-III pipeline networks enabled the Nigerian government to achieve the following objectives.
– Benin City.
– Kaduna (Product Depots)
– Port Harcourt (Product Depots).
– Lagos
– Warri (Product Depots)
– Yola
II. Providing additional distribution depots in Suleja and Minna.
III. Connecting the Kaduna Refinery products depot to the refineries in Port Harcourt and Warri, not only to cover the output shortage there, but also to secure the uninterrupted delivery of products to the northern territories in the case of a Kaduna Refinery outage.
IV. Construction of facilities to allow products to be pumped from Port-Harcourt to the Western districts via Benin, not only to supplement Warri Refinery operations, but also to ensure supply in the case of a complete outage.
V. De-bottlenecking the existing 6-inch diameter pipes between Jos and Gombe, which have limited capacity.
VI Making necessary adjustments, improvements, and repairs to the current system to accommodate the new facilities.
Furthermore, with the completion of the nation’s pipeline interlink project, the overall length of Nigeria’s product distribution pipelines and depot complex has increased to 4,950 km. This is made up of tubes of varying sizes that connect twenty storage depots.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Pipelines have been highlighted as crucial for the effective transportation and distribution of petroleum products. Although Nigeria had constructed and commissioned phases I-III of the pipeline system, the country has occasionally experienced petroleum product scarcity, causing immense hardship for the people.
Furthermore, the country’s mass media had frequently conveyed tragic news about the victims of kerosene explosions and other household tragedies caused by petroleum products. There is evidence of inefficiency in the operation and management of the country’s pipeline system.
Has the development of pipelines facilitated the distribution of petroleum products in Nigeria? What are the strategies for enhancing the country’s pipeline system? These questions address the issues that prompted this investigation.
1.3 GOALS OF THE STUDY
The research aims are as follows:
i. To investigate the function of pipelines in the effective distribution and marketing of petroleum products in Nigeria.
ii. Identify the constraints/problems with pipeline transportation of petroleum products in Nigeria.
iii. Provide practical answers to the problems.
iv. To emphasise initiatives for strengthening the nation’s pipelines in order to enable efficient marketing of petroleum products within the country.
1.4 Research Hypothesis
This study investigated the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis One.
H0: Pipelines are not a reliable method of distributing and marketing petroleum products in Nigeria.
H1: Pipelines are a highly reliable technique of distributing and marketing petroleum products in Nigeria.
Hypothesis Two
H0: Pipelines don’t lower the cost of transporting and selling petroleum products in Nigeria.
H1: Pipelines lower the costs of transporting and marketing petroleum products in Nigeria.
Hypothesis Three
H0: Pipeline vandalism does not inhibit the efficient use of pipelines for petroleum product distribution and marketing in Nigeria.
H1: Pipeline vandalism impedes the efficient use of pipelines for petroleum product delivery and marketing in Nigeria.
Hypothesis Four
H0: Alarm systems and police patrols will not lower the frequency of pipeline vandalism in Nigeria.
H1: The introduction of alarm systems and police patrols will reduce pipeline vandalism in Nigeria.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The study’s results and recommendations, if adopted, will benefit all Nigerians, including the government. For one thing, implementing the study’s recommendations will lower the occurrence of pipeline vandalism in Nigeria.
In addition, the issue of fuel scarcity will be eliminated. As a result, the average Nigerian will have access to petroleum goods at a lower cost at all times and from any location. Also, kerosene explosions will become a thing of the past.
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