Developing a safety assessment framework for the transportation of petroleum products: A case study of the Nigerian petroleum downstream industry

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.In Nigeria, downstream transportation and distribution of petroleum products is mainly done using pipelines and tanker vehicles. However, the latter have been linked to serious accidents/incidents with substantial consequences on human safety and the environment. This project aims to develop a safety assessment framework for mitigating the impact of accidents and improve road safety during the transportation of petroleum products between a loading depot and retail stations using tankers. During this study, a review of the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry with respect to petroleum products transportation was carried out to identify key legislations and stakeholder interests within the context of accident mitigation and safety. A mixed research approach was adopted, using a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews for data collection. The questionnaire survey was used to investigate the problems of petroleum products transportation and distribution using road tankers from a tanker driver perspective, while semi-structured interviews were designed to elicit the opinions of professionals and elucidate their opinions and experiences in relation to the variables in this study. The results from the survey and the interviews conducted revealed gaps in the following areas related to the transportation of petroleum products: technologies, risk management, regulations, environmental management and training leading to the development of a Safety Assessment Framework (SAF) which constitutes the main contribution to knowledge. The developed framework integrates different components of safety to enhance the efficiency and reliability of transportation of petroleum products using tankers. This research would be of benefit to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiary the Petroleum Products and Marketing Company (PPMC) which oversees the transportation and distribution of petroleum products across the country. Also, the major oil marketers and the independent oil marketers which make up the freight transporters of the downstream oil and gas transport industry will benefit from this research. Concluding, this work may form a foundation for future research in the field of transport safety in Nigeria and Africa with regards to the transportation of petroleum products and other hazardous materials (HAZMATs)