Oil jobber Tri-Country Petroleum recently purchased Thomas Oil Co., a lubricant distributor based in Wood River, Ill. Both companies carry ExxonMobil products, Tri-County primarily fuels, Thomas mostly lubes.
Officials with Tri-County, which is based in Pierron, Ill., said they took advantage of an opportunity to expand geographically. Thomas Oil became available when its principal, Jerry Thomas, decided to retire.
Our base is this area in Southern Illinois which is mostly agricultural, Tri-County President Terry Lammers said. So for us to keep growing we had to expand into an area with more population. Thomas does quite a bit of business in St. Louis, so well gain a firm footing there.
Thomas supplies lubricants mostly to heavy industrial and commercial customers on both sides of the Mississippi River. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.