Developing a framework for effective liquefied petroleum gas marketing and distribution in Nigeria

Abstract

Despite the huge national energy resource, a large majority of households in Nigeria do not have access to high quality modem energy services. They rely on traditional fuels (wood, dung and crop waste) for cooking. The disadvantages of these fuels are numerous: they produce dangerous emissions that lead to indoor and local air pollution; reduced productivity from hours wasted on gathering wood; their current rate of extraction has led to environmental degradation and deforestation. Transition to a readily available, clean burning modem energy carrier like LPG would resolve many of these issues. In this dissertation, the barriers that hinder the widespread utilization of LPG in Nigeria are identified and a framework to remove these barriers whilst improving the marketing and distribution of the fuel is proposed. The framework was developed based on the experiences that were used by other countries in improving the distribution and marketing of the product. A case study was used to establish the efficacy of the proposed framework. Oturkpo, a peri-urban town in the middle-belt region of Nigeria was considered for the case study. Null hypothesis that relates to barriers (like transportation, distribution, affordability, safety, pricing, e.t.c.) affecting LPG marketing and distribution was established. Results relating to these hypotheses from the survey questionnaire were analyzed with chi-square statistical tool. The result of the analysis was quite revealing. The chi-square values obtained from the analysis of these hypotheses were all above the critical value of 0.005 level of significance at one degree of freedom. Thus, the null hypotheses were rejected and the conclusion was reached that these factors (transportation, distribution, affordability, safety, pricing, e.t.c.) most likely affect the marketing of LPG in Nigeria. These results clearly show the relevance of the conceptualized framework in developing the Nigeria LPG market in Nigeria.