Colonial Fuel & Lubricant Services Inc., a subsidiary of Savannah-based Colonial Group Inc., has bought a South Carolina fuel delivery firm as part of the continued expansion of its fuel and lubricant services offerings, which now span Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Smoke Oil, based in Spartanburg, S.C., has about 30 employees and sells about 16 million gallons of fuel annually. Colonial Fuel and Lubricant provides fuel and lubricant solutions to customers ranging from major retail convenience chains to small fleet operators.
Former Smoke Oil owner Tom Nuckolls will assume overall leadership of Colonial Fuel & Lubricant Services as its vice president and general manager. He bought his former company in February 2004 and, two years later, acquired a small home heating operation in Asheville, N.C., which has grown into a regional commercial and residential fuel delivery operation.
In 2009, Nuckolls extended his company’s reach when he bought a commercial fuel and lubricant operation in Gaffney, S.C..
“Through a collaboration of these companies, we are able to deliver fuel, lubricants and diesel exhaust fluid to residential and commercial customers in South Carolina and North Carolina with services geared to handle everything from complex port-related and industrial businesses to mom-and-pop service stations,” Nuckolls said.
A commitment to sustained growth heavily factored in his decision to become part of the Colonial organization, Nuckolls said.
“We are very excited about the partnership with Colonial and look forward to growing our business through internal growth as well as through acquisitions.” he said.
Robert H. Demere, Jr., president of Colonial Group, pointed to Smoke Oil’s organizational culture and customer approach in making his decision to pursue the acquisition.
“We trust and empower our people to be creative solution providers for our customers,” Demere said. “Tom is laser-focused on developing a team that delivers for the customer, and we’re fortunate to have him on board.”