Rule of Thirds: Breaking It Down in the Midstream

Photo of pipelines stretchign the horizon.

With shrinking E&P budgets, weak commodity prices, the rise of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing, the need for greater emphasis on customer satisfaction in the oil and gas industry has never been stronger. Providers of midstream services, and their stakeholders, ignore the evidence at their own peril.

Results from EnergyPoint Research’s 2019 Oil & Gas Midstream Services Survey make the case, as companies rating in the top third of the survey register investor returns well in excess of the bottom third. Continue reading “Rule of Thirds: Breaking It Down in the Midstream”

Top-rated U.S. Gasoline Retailers

Map of the U.S. with regions highlighted

Results from EnergyPoint Research’s 2019 Customer Satisfaction Survey show Wawa to be the No. 1 rated gasoline retailer in the U.S.. The company also rated first in service quality, and in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions.

Kum & Go rated No. 2 overall, first in convenience and ease overall, and first in the Midwest and Northwest. Sheetz and Kwik Trip rated No. 3 & 4 overall. Rounding our the Top 5 overall is QuikTrip, which also rated first in the Southwest. Continue reading “Top-rated U.S. Gasoline Retailers”

Yes, It Pays to Keep Customers Smiling

Featured Image: Yes, It Pays to Keep Customers Smiling

Yes, it pays to keep customers smiling—even in the midstream.

As midstream activity marches on in North America, customers show preferences for providers with strong operating and project-development skills. Professionalism also matters.

The need for solutions is diverse and widespread. Constraints in West Texas―ground zero of U.S. shale-oil production―crimp output. Natural gas in Appalachia seeks conditioning and outlets. Gulf Coast petrochemical and LNG facilities demand feedstock. Canadian producers beg for market access. Continue reading “Yes, It Pays to Keep Customers Smiling”

Travelers on a Road to Nowhere

Photo of a highway road leading to nowhere.

This post was updated on June 24, 2019. 

Imagine a contest between two horses. History suggests one of the animals, having lost most of its races to the competitor, is the slower of the two. You are given even odds. Would you bet on the reliably slower horse?
 
The answer, of course, is no. Only a glutton for punishment would take even odds on a horse that’s expected to lose.

Continue reading “Travelers on a Road to Nowhere”

Consumers Are Happier at the Pump Than You Might Think

Featured Image (Gas Tank Guage) v. 1.00

Listening to experts, one could be forgiven for assuming the traditional automobile and the lifestyle it supports are fast-approaching expiration. Hardly a day passes when a prognosticator of some sort doesn’t posit that the internal combustion engine—and the petroleum products that feed it—are officially passé.

If true, somebody forgot to tell the American consumer.

Assuming trends hold, 2017 will clinch the record for annual vehicle-miles traveled in the U.S.  This will mark the third consecutive year of record road travel, reversing declines stemming from the 2008 financial crises and the historically high petroleum prices that followed. Continue reading “Consumers Are Happier at the Pump Than You Might Think”

A Guide to EnergyPoint’s Customer Satisfaction Ratings, Grades and Trends

Guide to EPR Grades & Ratings v. 1.00 (Featured Image)

EnergyPoint Research’s customer satisfaction ratings are unbiased and aggregated opinions of the marketplace. They are differentiated tools for evaluating the quality and performance of energy industry suppliers.

Our ratings are not intended to be a prognosis or recommendation (that’s not our role).  Rather, they are intended to measure the perceived performance and quality of suppliers. This includes tracking trends over time.

Continue reading “A Guide to EnergyPoint’s Customer Satisfaction Ratings, Grades and Trends”

Basic Energy Services: The Opportunity after the Storm

Basic Energy Services - Featured Image

Like many suppliers in the U.S. oilfield, Basic Energy Services has been badly beaten up. The culprit is a once-in-a-generation downturn that engulfed the entire industry, pushing Basic’s latest quarterly revenues down 70% compared to their peak just 18 months earlier.

It recently culminated in the company’s announcement that it will pursue a prepackaged bankruptcy and recapitalization plan. Continue reading “Basic Energy Services: The Opportunity after the Storm”