Improving Supply Chain Strategies towards Mitigating the Effect of Crude Oil Theft and Pipeline Vandalism in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry: A Case Study of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

Generically, SCM may be said to include all activities carried out to ensure proper functioning of the supply chain. The activities included in proper management of a supply chain broadly include logistics activities, planning and control of the flow of information and materials in a firm, management of relationships with other organizations and government intervention, However, crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism are established products supply chain disruptors in Nigeria which are rendering the task of running an efficient petroleum supply chain onerous. This paper aims to establish the importance of effective supply chain strategies for companies in the oil and gas industry with special focus on the Nigerian oil and gas sector and the strategies by which the state oil and gas corporation in this sector may mitigate disruptions to its supply chain. This study investigates the enhancement of supply chain strategies towards meeting the challenge of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, using the Nigerian National Corporation (NNPC) as a case study. Based on this study, data were collected from two sources: A summary of incident reports obtained from NNPC and an interview with personnel in the PPMC Department. Incident report refers to a report produced when accidents such as equipment failure, injury, loss of life, or fire occur at the work site. Content analysis is utilized to evaluate data obtained from interview responses, CBN financial stability reports, NDIC annual reports, circulars, banking supervision reports and implementation guidelines. The study found out that NNPC should endeavor to sustain its value chain and ward of pipeline vandals and crude oil thieves by engaging in community partnership, detailing security outfits to ensure its pipelines’ right of way and bridging. Concluded that the oil supply chain of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has been plagued by disruptions in the form of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism which has had debilitating effects on its value.

Upcycling of Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)into Dual Covalent Adaptable Networks through Chain Breaking-Crosslinking Strategy

Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)(PBAT),a widely studied biodegradable material,has not effectively addressed the problem of plastic waste.Taking into consideration the cost-effectiveness,upcycling PBAT should take precedence over direct composting degradation.The present work adopts a chain breaking-crosslinking strategy,upcycling PBAT into dual covalent adaptable networks(CANs).During the chainbreaking stage,the ammonolysis between PBAT and polyethyleneimine(PEI)established the primary crosslinked network.Subsequently,styrene maleic anhydride copolymer(SMA)reacted with the hydroxyl group,culminating in the formation of dual covalent adaptable networks.In contrast to PBAT,the PBAT-dual-CANs exhibited a notable Young's modulus of 239 MPa,alongside an inherent resistance to creep and solvents.Owing to catalysis from neighboring carboxyl group and excess hydroxyl groups,the PBAT-dual-CANs exhibited fast stress relaxation.Additionally,they could be recycled through extrusion and hot-press reprocessing,while retaining their biodegradability.This straightforward strategy offers a solution for dealing with plastic waste.

Analysis on the Management of Suppliers＇ Purchasing Partnership

This paper is about the study of purchasing cooperation with the supplier. It is through expanding some courses including demand analysis, choosing supplier, founding cooperation relationship formally and strengthening the cooperation, as well as several key questions, such as sourcing strategy, to estimate and select the supplier, authentication management, and purchase of technology.

Long-term correction of hemorrhagic diathesis in hemophilia A mice by an AAV-delivered hybrid FⅧcomposed of the human heavy chain and the rat light chain

Conventional therapies for hemophilia A(HA)are prophylactic or on-demand intravenous FⅧinfusions.However,they are expensive and inconvenient to perform.Thus,better strategies for HA treatment must be developed.In this study,a recombinant FⅧcDNA encoding a human/rat hybrid FⅧwith an enhanced procoagulant potential for adeno-associated virus(AAV)-delivered gene therapy was developed.Plasmids containing human FⅧheavy chain(hHC),human light chain(hLC),and rat light chain(rLC)were transfected into cells and hydrodynamically injected into HA mice.Purified AAV viruses were intravenously injected into HA mice at two doses.Results showed that the hHC+rLC protein had a higher activity than the hHC+hLC protein at comparable expression levels.The specific activity of hHC+rLC was about 4-to 8-fold higher than that of their counterparts.Hydrodynamic injection experiments obtained consistent results.Notably,the HA mice undergoing the AAV-delivered hHC+rLC treatment exhibited a visibly higher activity than those treated with hHC+hLC,and the therapeutic effects lasted for up to 40 weeks.In conclusion,the application of the hybrid FⅧ(hHC+rLC)via an AAV-delivered gene therapy substantially improved the hemorrhagic diathesis of the HA mice.These data might be of help to the development of optimized FⅧexpression cassette for HA gene therapy.