ANALYSIS OF THE DISTRIBUTION PATTERN OF PETROL FILLING STATIONS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN KADUNA METROPOLIS, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

ABUBAKAR, S.A., OKERE, D.C.* AND AKPU, B.

The present location of petrol filling stations in towns and cities of Nigeria hardly reflects the approved criteria for their location, thereby posing environmental problems. This study therefore analyzed the distribution pattern of petrol filling stations and its implications in Kaduna Metropolis. The list of petrol filling stations was collected from the Department Petroleum Resource [DPR]. Field survey was also carried out through which the geographic coordinates of petrol filling stations were captured using Global Positioning System receiver. Convenience sampling method was used to administer 400 copies of questionnaire to the respondents eliciting information on the implication of the location of petrol filling stations. Data were analyzed using overlay in ArcGIS 10.2 environment to determine the distribution of petrol filling stations while weighted mean scores was used to analyze the perceived implications of petrol filling station location. The findings revealed that there were 225 petrol filling stations and 69% were owned by independent marketers. About 76% of the filling stations were located along major roads in Kaduna Metropolis. The findings further revealed that traffic congestion due to queues at filling stations and air pollution with mean scores of 2.67 and 2.65 respectively were the most perceived implications of petrol filling station’s location. The study therefore concludes that the distribution of petrol filling stations was uneven and has implications to the residents living within the environs. It is recommended that the government should enforce the relocation of petrol stations that were sited within residential areas which did not satisfy the DPR standards.

Key words: Distribution, Implications, Kaduna metropolis, Petrol filling stations.