By  Oscarline Onwuemenyi
ABUJA –  The Petroleum Equalisation Fund (Management) Board, PEFMB, said it would commence the electronic monitoring of petroleum products distribution from the first week in January 2011.

The Executive Secretary of the Fund, Mrs. Adefunke Kasali, who said this at a briefing in Abuja, also noted that more than N28 billion had been spent by the Fund as payment to oil marketers in the country.

Kasali said officials of the Fund have been extensively trained and deployed to the over 50 depots operated by the PEF across the country to begin the implementation of the new business solution, termed ‘Project Aquila’ which aims to revolutionise products movement in the downstream subsector.

“All of our partners, especially tanker owners and operators are expected to begin the registration and tagging of their vehicles, and this exercise is expected to be concluded before the end of March, 2011,” she said.

She explained that the registration for the new technology, which would use the latest Radio Frequency Identification, RFID tags, would be administered by credible companies at no cost to operators.

According to her, Project Aquila would be applied in improving the quality, consistency and speed of reports generated from the supply and distribution of petroleum products for both internal and external uses, as well as for forecasting and long term planning.

Kasali noted that the new electronic solution would bring more efficiency and effectiveness in determining the volume of petroleum products bridged across the country, including accruals to marketers and transporters, and also facilitate payments accordingly.

She said, “The new project is expected to enhance the monitoring of distribution of petroleum products and speed up processing and payments of marketers’ claims. Project Aquila will bring about speed, efficiency, transparency and accuracy in products movement and claims settlement.”

She added that, “In the past, processing of claims was done manually with the physical movement of files from one location to another, causing delays which impact the marketers’ businesses adversely. Also, the movement of petroleum products has gone unmonitored, thereby making it difficult to confirm or certify deliveries at designated depot areas.

“The new solution will result in faster claims processing, faster payment of claims, and transparency in processing and easy release of funds to support marketers.”

She explained that the new system will process claims in a computerised framework which minimizes the need for human intervention, thereby reducing delays and enhancing products distribution, availability and sale at government approved prices.

“Aquila is a Latin word for Eagle, a bird renowned for its strength, speed and swiftness,” she explained.
“The Board has started an enlightenment programme across the nation to educate marketers and transporters on the benefits of the new system to their businesses. The implementation programme will require marketers to register their outlets, and truck owners to register all trucks used for the distribution of petroleum products,” Kasali further explained.

She pointed out that with the project in place, transporters claims will be processed on First-in-First-out, FIFO basis and all claims documented by the system will be forwarded immediately for payment.

The PEFMB boss stressed that the system would eliminate wastages and encourages greater service delivery.
“Project Aquila would also bring about a reduction in human errors in processing the national transportation allowance for products bridged as well as ease tracking of transactions,” she added.

She noted that under the scheme, however, marketers and transporters would be required to register their details with the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, as well as provide the addresses of their retail outlets and trucks for tagging.

Kasali further explained that the software was developed in-house, saving the Fund about $2 million, which would have been spent on outsourcing the business solution.

According to Kasali, the aim of the Fund is to, overtime, become a reliable depository of information and data on the downstream such that the Federal Government would use the generated data to plan its economic policies.

“We also aim to generate funds from the system’s application. Project Aquila will give birth to a lot of new and exciting things for the industry and the nation at large” she said.