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Wakefield Oil Co., Inc.

 

Brief History of Wakefield Oil Co. Inc.

We moved to Roswell, N.M. in May of 1973. I was with Conoco for ten years. Conoco was going to close this area and move us to another area. We liked it here. I had the chance to buy an existing battery route so I did and resigned from Conoco. For the next several years I serviced this route and added filters to my business then was able to sign up as a Conoco distributer.

On November 1, 1983, Jerry Arnold from Hobbs approached me to go in with him and take over the Starr Gas distributorship (formerly Yarborough Oil Co). We named it Wakefield Oil Co. Inc. The jobbership was small. In less than a year, Jerry got in financial trouble and I had to take over and buy his part out. At this time Moncor Bank was in Roswell and they helped me accomplish this. Queen Oil and Gas from Carlsbad also helped by selling me product and extending the terms so I could handle them.

This all started at 212 E. Walnut. We had a five year lease with the option to purchase the building and property. I couldn’t reach an agreement with Yarborough’s and about that time the Sunwest Bank fore closed on the Texaco jobber at 311 S. Virginia. I had a vision of a building and station on the property and use the existing tanks and warehouse in back. I talked with Joe Mangum of Sunwest Bank and made the deal. We built the station and building in late 1988 and officially moved in January 1, 1989. We soon reached two million gallons in sales. About this time I had taken care of Queen Oil’s assistance and soon satisfied the FDIC from the Moncor closing, so I was on my own.

J & R Oil Co, here in Roswell, wanted to sell their Phillips jobbership that included a bulk plant in Capitan. We were able to take this over the first of October 1994. Our Volume went to three million gallons at this time.

During the spring of 2003, I had the chance to purchase 1108 N. Main St. and have a touchless car wash built on it. This is a separate corporation called the Roswell Rapid Wash Inc. We also formed Wakefield Properties LLC to go along with our operations. The Bank of the South West helped get the small business loan.

In January of 2004, Angel and Jesus Salazar, of United Drilling, had me take over part of a propane company called Enchantment Propane. We made this a part of Wakefield Oil that year but as of January 1, 2005 we started another corporation called Wakefield Propane, Inc. They both fit together well in getting new business, since many businesses and ranches use both our companies.

During October of 2006, Wakefield Propane merged with Riverside Propane and formed Advanced Energy. We are one of three partners. Don Davis is the operational partner. Luis Fulton is the other partner with most assets.

In 2007 we hit five million gallons. United Fuel and Energy bought out Queen Oil and Eddins Walcher. The other two big competitors in this area. We stayed around three million gallons for several years, then hit four million in 2006 and five million in 2007. Our accounts receivable has gone from $350.000 a month back in 2003, to over $1,300,000 a month in 2008. The rack price of gas and diesel has went from just over a dollar to around three dollars a gallon during that time.

On July 1, 2007, James Baker sold us his Baker Oil Business in Artesia. James Baker is one of the finest men you will ever meet. I have known him for the 40 years we have been in Roswell. He and his dad were the commission agents for Conoco when I was the area representative. James has helped finance most of this purchase. Western Bank in Artesia has also helped.

At present, 2013, Wakefield 24 Hour Card Lock locations are open at:
311 S. Virginia St. in Roswell
179 E. Darby Rd. in Midway
901 S. First St. in Artesia
406 N. First St. in Artesia
Mayhill, NM
And soon a new site just North of Loving

Through all these years we have had a lot of help from accountants and the one we use now, Anthony D'Arezzo, is great. We were with Ronald L Miller for years.They were with us through all the ups and downs that a business usually goes through. I couldn’t have done it without them.

Wakefield Oil employs 21 employees at present. We have a combination of vehicles. One transport (9,000 gallon), three bobtails (from 2300 to 2800 gallons), three larger bob tails (4500 gallon), one bulk oil bobtail (1500 gallon), five pickups, two flatbed oil delivery trucks and one winch truck.

Preparation is taking place at Wakefield Oil for Wendell to step back a little and have his two sons, LaMond Wakefield (Artesia Manager), Jayton Wakefield (General Manager), and son in law Gareth Hansen (Roswell Manager), start the second generation. I hope this gives you a little understanding of where we’ve been and that we are committed to making a very successful business or businesses.


We can’t do it without your help, Thank you.

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