Risk Management Practice in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry

Abstract

While in developed nations, risk management practises have become a norm in a bid to ensure project success, it is still unclear if its implementation has become common practise in developing nations. The paper aims to explore the current perceptions of risk management specifically in the Nigerian petroleum industry. The industry serves as a good platform to explore risk management in this context as it is the biggest in Africa and contributes significantly to the countries economy. With so much dependence on the industry, it reasons that all possible measures to mitigate risk will be put in place, especially because of the scale of major failures that have been recorded worldwide in the industry. A comprehensive literature review on risk management is carried out and presented. Empirical data is collected using semi-structured qualitative interviews from personnel in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation for analyses which is subsequently presented. Findings reveal the major risks commonly experienced in the Nigeria petroleum industry, the primary methods currently employed in the different stages of risk management, and the factors that impede the implementation of more advance risk management tools are identified. The work extends on the knowledge that is currently available on risk management practices in developing nations.