Findings from a newly released 2018 Oil & Gas Midstream Services Customer Satisfaction Survey conducted by EnergyPoint Research indicate providers of midstream services face both opportunity and challenge in today's dynamic North American market.
"Whether it's solving logistical issues in West Texas caused by rapid growth, pursuing better ways to move produced natural gas from Appalachian states to communities hoping to reduce their reliance on coal, or supplying vital feedstocks to the multiplex of petrochemical and LNG facilities on the Gulf Coast, midstream solutions are in high demand these days," noted Doug Sheridan, Managing Director of EnergyPoint Research. "Findings from this year's survey suggest a handful of companies are leading the effort to meet the expanding needs of midstream customers."
This year's top overall rating again goes to MPLX – MarkWest Energy, which operates a range of midstream assets across the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast and Southwest regions of the U.S. The company took top honors in five survey categories, including total satisfaction, onshore gas gathering, HSE practices, Permian Basin and Texas Intrastate.
Enable Midstream was the survey's runner-up, ranking first in gas storage and in the Ark-La-Tex region. Placing third was Plains All American, which rated first in operations, onshore crude gathering, NGL transportation and storage, project development and the Onshore Gulf Coast. Andeavor Logistics and Crestwood Midstream ranked fourth and fifth in the study, respectively.
Now in its ninth year, the survey is the only annual study focused on North American customers' satisfaction with providers of a full range of oil and gas midstream services. This year's survey, conducted online from September through early November 2018, is the most comprehensive ever undertaken in the segment by EnergyPoint. A total of 28 U.S. and Canadian companies received the minimum number of evaluations needed to be included in the final results.
"Even as activity accelerates in the sector, customers are maintaining long-held preferences for midstream providers that possess strong operating and project-development skills along with deep-seated commitment to service and professionalism," added Sheridan. "While midstream companies must always be competitive when it comes to pricing and terms, it's the fundamental combination of high-quality operations and fair-minded treatment of customers that separates top-ranked companies from the pack in this year's survey."
Listed alphabetically, companies rating first in at least one category in this year's survey include:
Andeavor Logistics in crude transportation, crude storage and terminaling, and the Bakken – Dakotas region;
Archrock in gas compression services and the U.S. Rockies & San Juan Basin;
Crestwood Midstream in gas transportation and service and professionalism;
Enable Midstream in gas storage and the Ark-La-Tex region;
Enterprise Products in NGL fractionation, gas processing and treating, and gas and NGL purchasing;
EQT – Rice Midstream in the Appalachian – Marcellus region;
Inter Pipeline in systems and administration;
Keyera in Canada;
MPLX – MarkWest in total satisfaction, onshore gas gathering, HSE practices, and the Permian Basin and Texas Intrastate regions;
Phillips 66 Partners in the Mid-continent region;
Plains All American in operations, onshore crude gathering, NGL transportation and storage, project development, and the Onshore Gulf Coast region, and;
Williams in the Gulf of Mexico.
In addition to those listed above, other companies rated in the survey include Anadarko/Western Gas Partners, Boardwalk Pipeline, Buckeye, CSI Compressco, DCP Midstream, Enbridge, Energy Transfer, Enlink Midstream, Kinder Morgan, Lucid Energy Group, Magellan Midstream, NuStar Energy, ONEOK, Targa Resources, USACompression and Valero Energy Partners.
Survey Information This year's survey reflects findings from more than 3,200 evaluations of midstream services providers by qualified respondents at companies utilizing services of midstream providers. Respondents were asked to rate only those companies with which they had significant experience as a midstream service provider within the prior 24 months. Companies were rated in total satisfaction, pricing and contract terms, operations and performance, project development, personnel, systems and administration, and corporate capabilities, and other areas. Respondents also evaluated companies across multiple types of midstream services and geographic regions.
For those categories and providers in which ratings existed, scores from the 2015-2016 survey period were included in category-winner calculations at lesser weightings than for the 2017-2018 period. In no case were 2017-2018 ratings assigned a weighting of less than 80 percent for purposes of calculating final ratings and category winners.
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About EnergyPoint Research, Inc. EnergyPoint Research conducts independent research regarding customer satisfaction in the global energy industry. Founded in 2003, the firm publishes closely watched annual customer satisfaction ratings and rankings in several segments, including midstream services, gasoline retailing, and upstream products and services. For more information concerning EnergyPoint and its independently conducted surveys, visit the company's web site at
