Assessment of the Involvement of Quantity Surveyors in Oil and Gas Projects in Lagos State, Nigeria

Data for this study were obtained via a longitudinal survey. The first set of data was collected from a random sample of 40 out of a population frame of 65 front-line QS firms (those with more than16 years’ experience), established through a pilot survey, in Lagos State, Nigeria. All the QS firms were not considered because the oil and gas sector requires specialized QS services, beyond the traditional ones, which only well-established firms can provide. Lagos State was selected because of the presence of majority of QS practicing firms. Structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data from the sampled firms on their level of involvement in oil and gas projects and the influence factors. Respondents were required to provide the frequency of the involvement of their firms in the upstream, midstream and downstream stages of oil and gas projects on a Likert-like scale of ‘1’ to ‘5’, ‘1’ for very low involvement and ‘5’ for very high involvement. Secondly, respondents were also required to tick one from a Likert-like scale of ‘1’ to ‘5’ (‘1’ for very low influence and ‘5’ for very high influence) on the eight factors, synthesized from literature review, which influenced the involvement of their firms in oil and gas projects. Data collected were analysed using mean score. Regarding the second set of data on services provided by QS firms, structured questionnaires were used to elicit data from a random sample of 16 out of a population frame of 31 oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria. Data were collected from five representatives each from the companies giving a sample size and population frame of 80 and 155, respectively. Respondents were required to tick their option from the 16 services synthesized from literature based on a Likert-like scale of ‘1’ to ‘5’ (‘very low’ to ‘very high’). Data collected were analysed using mean score, standard deviation and ANOVA. There was strict adherence to ethical guidelines in collecting the data for the two surveys. These included encouraging participant voluntariness; explaining in details to respondents the goal and scope of the study; and maintaining strict confidentiality and anonymity of the data with a guarantee that it would be used for the research's sole purpose.