DEVELOPMENT OF A PREDICTIVE MODEL FOR PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTION IN NIGERIA USING MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH

Abstract

Petroleum products are the major economy of Nigeria today. The country being a producer and an exporter of these products is having internal challenge of availability of the product periodically due to inappropriate distribution coupled with the incessant increase in pump prices. This challenge has been on for decades. With this background information this research used a set of previous data set obtained from Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation and National Population Census data to develop a predictive model for the distribution of the product with the use of machine learning approach. Python programming tools were used for establishing possible relationship between the data sets before the development and implementation of the model. The developed model was evaluated and the error level was found to be tolerable this research provided a realistic model that can be used for the distribution of the product by the stake holders so as to address this age long challenge.