Customer Experience Necessary to Capture Benefits of Downstream Value Chain - OVH Energy Marketing CEO

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of OVH Energy Marketing, a licensee of the Oando retail brand, Mr. Huub Stokman has called on players in the downstream sector to make improvements in customer experience, safety and operational standards if the full benefits of the downstream value chain are to be maximized.

Mr. Stokman made this call during a presentation at the just concluded Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) in Abuja. His presentation which was titled “Sustaining Industry Momentum on Downstream: what new strategies, tactics and innovative partnership” x-rayed the key risks/challenges plaguing the downstream industry and the key levers to drive growth.

According to Mr. Stokman, the challenges with the industry range from having multiple regulatory bodies to failure of corporate governance, title ownership verification, insecurity, environment pollution, vandalism, product supply disruption, unchanging trade margins, infrastructure deficit, skills and technology gap amongst others. Critical among these challenges according to Stokman is the gap that still exists in delivering customer experience and satisfaction.

In his words, “Despite being a mature customer facing industry, research indicates that the public doesn’t perceive most players as customer-centric. The downstream business is all about the customers; consistently providing them trusted petroleum products and services, whilst operating at the highest safety and operational standards. It is imperative therefore that players in this sector strive to meet customer needs through continuous technology driven investment and innovation”.

He continued “indeed, refining is a necessary catalyst for growth and for a much needed shift from import driven supply to self-sufficiency. However, if Nigeria wants to capture the full benefits of the downstream value chain after the enhanced refining capacity comes on-stream, the other downstream sectors need to use this short time window to make improvements in customer experience and safety and operational standards; driven by technology. This will only be possible through major investments which are not feasible at current margins”.

Meanwhile, OVH Energy Marketing emerged winner of the Downstream Company of the Year and Midstream Company of the Year awards at the opening ceremony of the Nigeria Petroleum Summit. Commenting on this, Chief Operating Officer, OVH Energy, Mumuni Dagazau, said, “the awards reflect our consistency in providing and delivering solutions to improve the sector and satisfy our customers across the value chain. Our pledge is to continue to innovate and to deliver higher fuel standards and product quality”.

The Nigeria Petroleum International Summit (NIPS) is Nigeria’s official petroleum event designed as a meeting place for the oil and gas industry to introduce new technologies and share ideas that will lead to the development of new strategies; whilst providing a networking platform for decision makers in both public and private sectors.