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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”

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A Simple But Powerful Tool

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EnergyPoint conducts its independent surveys annually. This schedule allows rated upstream, midstream and downstream energy companies to track their performance over time. The goal is encourage continual improvement and a “race-to-the-top” mentality.

Pricing and contract terms, service and professionalism, engineering and design, operations, and others attributes are measured in our surveys. Results are detailed in published reports. These include 1-to-10 point ratings, top-to-bottom rankings, evaluation counts, ratings means and medians. Continue reading “A Simple But Powerful Tool”

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Surviving the Promises of Technology

Surviving Technology

Over the years, technology has played a heralded role in the oil and gas industry. It still does today. Pick up any trade publication and chances are you’ll find at least one well-worn tribute to its importance.

Yet, the fixation on hi-tech hasn’t been without problems. It’s even been value-destroying at times. We’d argue the industry’s intractable struggle with financial returns is due, in part, to spending on technology that isn’t justified. Continue reading “Surviving the Promises of Technology”

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Yes, It Pays to Keep Customers Smiling

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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”

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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”

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Consumers Are Happier at the Pump Than You Might Think

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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”

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Fulfilling the Promise of Weatherford

Restoring Confidence in Weatherford

It is said what CEOs most enjoy is a challenge with outsize reward. If so, Mark McCollum should be ecstatic. As the incoming CEO of Weatherford International, he is tasked with resurrecting one of the more perennially promising, yet frustratingly underachieving, companies in the oil patch.

McCollum’s predecessor, long-time CEO Bernard Duroc-Danner, built an organization with a global presence and broad portfolio. However, the company found itself adrift in recent years as a string of financial losses and shifting strategies undermined employee morale and depleted investor confidence. Continue reading “Fulfilling the Promise of Weatherford”

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

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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”