- A NIGERIAN Petroleum Engineer, Mr. Chinedu Onyeizu, has developed a three node policy and a technology-based model aimed at addressing the challenges of fuel supply in Nigeria, by empowering Nigerians and the authorities with the capacity to track supply across all the downstream petroleum sector value chain.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Onyeizu, a graduate student of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, said the model will help address Nigeria’s fuel challenges in one year.
He also said the model will empower the authorities to allocate and monitor fuel supply across all the supply chain in real-time, using sophisticated computer packages as well as enabling Nigerians to track fuel supply from depots, through transport facilities to petrol stations. He said the three-node model focuses on leveraging the
existing Joint Venture, JV, and independent partnership
agreements to make refined products abundant and
affordable to Nigerian consumers.
He said the strategy will require unbundling the
downstream sector into three strategic nodes, namely:
Downstream-Upstream node, Downstream-Midstream
node and Downstream-Downstream node.
He said: “The Three-node model is policy based and its
critical enablers include: locating new refineries at
operational bases of producing companies; collaborating
with International oil companies and indigenous producers
to operate the refineries while NNPC positions itself as a
non-operating partner with oversight functions.
“NNPC will provide 100 per cent funding for the
construction of these refineries; align with the producers to
allocate a reasonable quota of crude as constant feed to
the refineries; leverage existing ship berthing facilities in
operational bases of producers to load refined products. It
will also work closely with the association of petroleum
products marketers to distribute efficiently; leverage
existing tank farms and fuel stations across the country to
ensure products reach consumers.”
Real-time monitoring
He added that the model has a technology application
component, ‘Petrol-Solve 1.3’ that would help in capturing
and transforming in-context data into actionable insights.
He explained that the use of the technology will introduce
real-time monitoring of fuel volumes and for product
distribution network management from point of vessel
loading to end-point filling stations.
He added: “We are also introducing a functionality that will
enable real-time prediction and management of related
events by exception.”
Onyeizu further argued that the three-node model
approach to solving the fuel crisis situation in Nigeria will
leverage system and predictive analytics to improve
management of fuel product refining and distribution
across the country.
To this end, he expressed willingness to meet with
President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of State for
Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, to provide
extensive workflow models and design and also make
presentations on the workability of the 3-node approach.
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