The determinant of a five-stage downstream oil supply chain: An empirical study of Ghana

Background: The benefits derived from a downstream oil supply chain is very explicit and tangible. Various studies have looked at numerous determinants that drive the downstream oil supply chain, mainly among a specific player. However, the metamorphic nature of the industry powered by technological advancement, new policies, new oil well discoveries, and others raise an urgent need to assess the determinants of Ghana’s downstream oil supply chain. Therefore, this article scrutinises the five-stage downstream oil supply chain from the Ghanaian perspective.Objective: The key objectives of this study were to determine the determinant of a five-stage downstream oil supply chain and examine the impact of some of the identified determinants on the five-stage downstream oil performance.Method: The study adopted a quantitative research approach, and a closed-ended questionnaire was used to collect primary data from five-stage downstream oil supply chain players. The data collected was screened, coded and complied in Microsoft excel and analysed statistically using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 20. A preliminary test was conducted to ascertain the data distribution (mean and standard deviation [SD}), reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) and validity (ANOVA [analysis of variance]). The logistics regression was applied to examine the impact of the determinant on the five-stage downstream oil performance.Results: The results suggest that government interference, human capital, collaborations, transportation issues amongst others are the determinants that affects the five-stage downstream oil supply chain. The logistics regression results revealed that each sector’s performance contributes significantly to the sustenance of the five-stage supply chain. Besides, government interference (political stability and expand industry growth) and human capital (educational level and training programmes) are the factors that affect the five-stage downstream supply chain. But as for collaboration, none of the factors adopted affect the five-stage downstream oil supply chain.Conclusion: In summary, the downstream oil supply chain player agrees that the sector’s performance is steady within the entire chain. However, government interference significantly affects downstream oil supply chain performance negatively. Besides, players within the five-stage downstream supply chain neglect collaboration (trust, information sharing, enabling technology and incentive alignment) and pay less or no attention to cooperation which is the cornerstone of daily operational improvement of the five-stage downstream supply chain.