marketing
Abstract: The government’s involvement in the ownership and management of refineries and logistics infrastructures is perceived as the cause of numerous problems associated with downstream oil and gas industry in Nigeria. Thus, government economic reforms by way of the deregulation policy were introduced in 2003 to revive the ailing industry. This dissertation seeks “a strategic management perspective and critique of deregulation of downstream oil and gas industry in Nigeria in order to understand the effects, challenges and prospects”. The objective of this study is to offer both theoretical and practical insights about the deregulation process in Nigeria from a management viewpoint.This study’s theoretical framework is embedded in three aspects of the literature: deregulation, strategic management and competitive forces. These three perspectives are used in order to assess emerging effects, challenges and prospects of deregulation of the industry and the changing strategic landscape arising from the deregulation exercise. The theory of competitive forces provides and understanding of the industry structure and the interactions between competitors, while innovative management is needed in order to assess industry processes and capabilities. Summarising and integrating these viewpoints formed a hypothesised understanding that reflected the effects, challenges and prospects of deregulation.An empirical analysis of the study required a constructed research methodology that is based on quantitative and qualitative methods. A non-probability sample approach with a dichotomous questionnaire (of TES/NO responses) was self-administered in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt to represent three geographical areas in Nigeria; the target population of fifty persons from each state was chosen using purposive sampling method. Furthermore, an open-ended questionnaire was self-administered on two managers from Forth Oil, one manager from Oando PLC and one manager from Total