Resilient downstream oil supply chain under interdiction and recovery resources allocation using a Column and Constraint Generation algorithm

Abstract

A downstream oil supply chain designates the last section of an oil supply chain, which involves the distribution of refined oil products to demand zones. We study in this paper intentional disruptions called interdictions in this supply chain to provide a secure and resilient system. Such a system, which is enabled by fortification elements, is capable of restoring its operations as fast as possible after interdictions. It is vital to take into account the product delivery times affected by interdiction, especially in critical supply chains such as the oil industry. Also, the recovery resources after an interdiction are limited. So, we propose a tri-level defender-attacker-defender model to address the problem in which product delivery time and recovery resources allocation are included. Next, we present two exact solution approaches, including Implicit Enumeration (IE) and Column and Constraint Generation (C&CG), to solve the tri-level model. C&CG provides high-quality solutions in a reasonable time compared to the IE. We apply the proposed algorithms to a case study regarding an Iranian downstream oil supply chain. We also conduct an analysis to assess the robustness of the solutions. Sensitivity analysis indicates that increasing the recovery capacity results in a cost reduction of 5 percent on average.