Analysing the Critical Risk Factors of Oil and Gas Pipeline Projects in Iraq

ABSTRACT Purpose- Oil and Gas Pipelines (OGPs) are the safest mode of transportation for petroleum products. Yet, OGPs are facing a massive range of safety, design and operational risks such as sabotage, design defects, corrosion, material ageing, poor quality, misuse and geological disasters. These risks have resulted in OGP project management becoming more challenging and complex, particularly in developing countries with poor security systems. Additionally, there are two significant problems associated with OGP projects in these countries. The first is the different characteristics of risk factors, and the second is the real shortage of historical data required for any risk evaluation study. These problems mean that the currently accessible risk evolution methods cannot evaluate OGPs risk factors accurately. This paper aims to provide a proper understanding of the characteristics of OGPs risk factors in these countries. It also aims to identify the critical risk factors and their degree of probability and severity in pipeline projects, to avoid the loss of life and increased costs that result from risks to safety. Methodology- A quantitative research approach is adopted in this paper. Additionally, an industry survey was conducted by using a semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed online amongst the people who are associated with OGP projects in Iraq. SPSS 23 was used to analyse a total of 180 successful questionnaire responses. The survey findings in terms of critical risk factors and their ranking in order of risk index of severity and probability are presented in tables and graphs. Findings- A total of 30 risk factors associated with OGP projects have been identified as critical risk factors and ranked them into a scale of probability and severity index. Third-party disruption (such as terrorism, theft and sabotage) was found to be the most critical safety risk factor whereas the failure form pipe corrosion was ranked the top most operational risk. Implications- The list of OPG critical safety and operational risk factors provides the first-stage findings. These findings will be implemented to develop a conceptual framework and a computer-based model for OGPs risk management system at the next stage of the research