Cardie Oil sells off fuel and propane lines

Company keeps service and tire facility

By DAVID COLBURN

News editor

Customers who counted on Cardie Oil for fuel and propane will be working with a new dealer, but familiar faces, after a Missouri-based company recently bought those portions of the business.

Cardie Oil president Craig Settle said the sale of the company’s refined fuel and propane operations to MFA Oil, a farmer-based cooperative based in Columbia, Missouri, should result in improved service to customers.

“I think it’s great,” Settle said. “I think the resources these guys have available are going to allow us to take Cardie Oil to the next level. Cardie Oil just couldn’t do some of the things these guys can do on a larger scale.”

Technological advancements that were too expensive for a small company like Cardie Oil will be incorporated by MFA, Settle said.

“The technology they’re bringing in for overall management of the company is more robust,” he said. “They have technology in the trucks that is way more extensive than what we were able to offer. They’ll be able to do things for irregular usage customers, putting monitors on their tanks and monitoring on a daily basis to make sure they don’t run out.”

Several Cardie Oil trucks have been sent to Moberly, Missouri, for computer upgrades, but customers won’t be left in the lurch.

“There are MFA-branded trucks on site and out making deliveries as we speak,” Settle said.

While MFA takes over fuel and propane operations out of Tampa, Cardie Oil will continue to operate its quick lube and tire center in Marion, Settle said.

“The two employees that I have at the quick lube and tire location will stay with me, and all the other full time employees were offered jobs with MFA,” he said.

Reactions from customers have been mostly positive, Settle said.

“I think there’s always anxiety about change, but I’m impressed with what these guys have been able to do in the past week,” he said. “I think this is a good deal for our customers and employees.”

MFA has been expanding in Kansas since 2015, something Settle noticed as they took over operations in Garnett, Emporia, Chanute, Severy, and Spring Hill.

“Based on conversations with other owners that did transactions with them, it made sense to contact them,” he said.

Cardie Oil, which took it’s name from the nickname of co-founder G.G. Mueller, got its start in 1939 in Tampa with the help of Mueller’s wife, Ruth. Sons Earl, Norman, and Paul helped grow the business’s service stations and distribution network, and remained active with the company until it was purchased by Shawmar Oil in 2005.

Jon Ihler, MFA Oil vice president of sales and marketing, said in a press release that his company will benefit from the acquisition.

“This addition broadens our marketing territory, moving us further west in Kansas and complements our existing operations within the state,” he said. “As we grow our customer base in Kansas, we remain focused on delivering the same level of excellent service and support that customers have grown accustomed to from Cardie Oil.”