CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the introduction, theoretical background, statement of problem, aim/objectives of the study, the significance of the study, scope of the study, and organization of the research.

1.1 Theoretical Background

Over the years the supply and distribution of petroleum products in Nigeria were characterized with series of protest and crises, irregularity in supply of products, acute product shortages, hoarding, smuggling, adulteration and long queues. The situation became pathetic by the low performance of the domestic refineries, which resulted in excessive dependence on importation [1]. There was also limited inflow of investments into the downstream due to low margins, uncompetitive pricing structure and prior incentive mechanism.  This led the government to introduce the independent marketer’s scheme in 1978 in order to break the dominance of the six multinationals oil companies operating in Nigeria.  Distribution of petroleum product is movement of crude oil from the point of exploitation to the final point where these refined petroleum products is consumed. Crude oil is transported from the oil field to refining plant, from the refining plant to oil depot and from the oil depot to the final point of consumption. The major marketers are responsible for the movement of the products from the refineries to their branded station while independent marketers transport the products from the depots to the service stations. The movement of the products can be done by pipelines, rails, coastal vessel and road trucks. Nigeria has a total network of 5120 km which cut across the country, forming a mesh that interlinks to 23 storage depots, 8LPG depots, 24 pump stations, 4 refineries (Port-Harcourt (I and II), Kaduna and Warri), 2 offshore jetties (Atlas Cove and Escravos) and 4 jetties (Apapa, Calabar, Okrika and Warri). The Pipeline and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) a subsidiary of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) uses the oil pipelines to transport crude oil to the refineries in Port-Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna at a total distance of 719km. The products will be transported from the refineries through the linked pipelines to the 23 loading depots of combined installed capacity of 266890MT (PMS), 676400MT (DDK), 1007900MT (AGO) and 74000MT (ATK) [2].

From the depots, the products will be distributed to different marketers. To carry out the distribution effectively, there is need for a computerized system that will aid in keeping record and also monitoring the distribution of the petroleum products. This is due to the fact that the computer system has high speed of processing, saving and retrieving stored information. The development in software development has made it possible for customized systems to be developed to meet the information needs of organizations. A petroleum product lifting record management system is one of such systems that can aid proper management of information in the petroleum industry.

1.2 Statement of Problem

The major problem of many organizations are :

1. The manual means of recording petroleum products lifting information is manually written and filed.
2. This situation makes it very difficult to access and properly monitor the distribution record of petroleum products by the ministry and even the petrol stations.
3. The present system is time consuming, reports cannot be presented when needed and files are difficult to update in the case of changes.

To avoid these problems, there is need for a software system that will provide a database to aid easy management of petroleum product lifting records.  It is in view of these problems that this research study is carried out.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to design and implement a petroleum product lifting record management system. The following are the specific objectives:

• To develop a database system that will keep record of the lifting or distribution of petroleum products
• To develop a system that can be queried to filter information pertaining the distribution of petroleum products.
• To implement a system that can replace the manual way of recording the lifting of petroleum products.
• To develop a system that will aid easy updating and reporting of petroleum lifting record.

1.4 Significance of the Study

The significance of the study are:

1. It will enable the management of NNPC Aba road, Ikot Ekpene to have a more effective means of capturing and managing the records of the lifting of petroleum products.
2. It will save time and promote smooth running of the ministry by enabling them to track their distribution records.
3. The study will also serve as a useful reference material to other researchers seeking for related information on the subject.

1.5 Scope of the Study

This study centers on petroleum product lifting record management system using NNPC Aba Road, Ikot Ekpene as a case study. The study covers the recording of information pertaining to petroleum product distribution.

1.6 Organization of Research

This research work is organized into five chapters:

Chapter one is concerned with the introduction of the research study and it presents the preliminaries, theoretical background, statement of the problem, aim and objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the research and definition of terms.

Chapter two focuses on the literature review, the contributions of other scholars on the subject matter is discussed.

Chapter three is concerned with the system analysis and design. It presents the research methodology used in the development of the system, it analyzes the present system to identify the problems and provides information on the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system. The system design is also presented in this chapter.

Chapter four presents the system implementation and documentation, the choice of programming language, analysis of modules, choice of programming language and system requirements for implementation.

Chapter five focuses on the summary, constraints of the study, conclusion and recommendations are provided in this chapter based on the study carried out.