After making two major acquisitions the previous year, 2013 was about integration and growth for Tauber Oil Co., an independent marketer of petroleum and petrochemical and natural gas products.
The company reported $4.8 billion in 2013 revenue and ranks No. 3 on the Chronicle list of top private companies. Last year it was No. 2, with $5.1 billion in revenue.
In 2012, Tauber Oil acquired majority stakes in Abilene-based TransOil Marketing and Birmingham, Ala.-based Interconn Resources, a natural gas marketing company.
The company spent much of last year integrating TransOil and Interconn and bringing them up to speed technologically, said Richard Tauber, who co-owns Tauber Oil with his brother, David. Their father, O.J. Tauber, founded the company in 1953.
The Taubers said the acquisition of Interconn took the company deeper into Florida, where Tauber Oil had done limited business in the past.
They said the company spent a lot of time and resources upgrading technology at the acquired companies, including installing new technologies in TransOil’s trucking fleet. The acquisition of TransOil, a crude oil marketing company, brought 15 trucks and trailers into the fold, and Tauber Oil has since added 15 more trucks and trailers.
“We updated the technology and added an energy trading management system that we had under Tauber Oil,” Richard Tauber said.
Richard Tauber said Tauber Oil last year also re-entered the refined products business, which it exited about five years ago.
The return “exceeded our expectations,” he said.
David Tauber said the standout segments last year were carbon black, Canadian crude and natural gas liquids.
This year, Tauber Oil is awaiting the arrival of 150 new leased rail cars for its Canadian fleet, which are scheduled to arrive in July or August.
The additional cars, which will be used to move crude oil, will bring the company’s rail fleet to 900 leased cars.
Tauber Oil has 142 employees, 87 in Houston.
The Taubers say they continue to seek acquisitions.
“We looked around a lot last year but didn’t find anything that made sense for us,” Richard Tauber said.
By Tanya Rutledge at the Houston Chronicle
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