Colonial Group
Colonial Group is a fourth-generation, family-owned holding company in Savannah, GA operating nine subsidiaries across fuel distribution, bulk terminal storage, natural gas, industrial chemicals, marine bunkering, retail convenience stores, water treatment, and carbon reduction technologies across the Southeastern and Eastern United States.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1921
- HeadquartersSavannah, United States
- Headcount501–1,000
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Colonial Group does
Colonial Group, Inc. is a privately held, fourth-generation family-owned parent company headquartered in Savannah, Georgia, operating since 1921 as the holding entity for nine subsidiary business units across the energy, chemicals, logistics, and retail sectors. The platform includes Colonial Oil Industries (fuel and lubricant distribution across 34 states), Colonial Terminals (the largest independent liquid and dry bulk storage operator in the Southeastern United States with over 6.5 million barrels of capacity and $100M+ in active breakbulk infrastructure development), Colonial Energy (natural gas marketing to utilities and power generators in the Eastern United States), Colonial Chemical Solutions (industrial chemical distribution with warehouses in Savannah, Charlotte, Richmond, and Atlanta), Colonial Towing (marine bunkering in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina), Colonial Transportation Solutions (company-owned fleet serving internal subsidiaries and external customers), Enmarket (130+ retail fuel and convenience stores across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia), Aqua Smart (exclusive global manufacturer of the SeaQuest water treatment additive), and Crown Carbon Reduction Technologies (fuel catalysts and process chemicals for mining and energy industries).
Colonial Group firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Colonial Group
- Legal name
- Colonial Group, Inc.
- Website
- https://colonialgroupinc.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1921
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 501–1,000 employees
- Short description
- Colonial Group is a fourth-generation, family-owned holding company in Savannah, GA operating nine subsidiaries across fuel distribution, bulk terminal storage, natural gas, industrial chemicals, marine bunkering, retail convenience stores, water treatment, and carbon reduction technologies across the Southeastern and Eastern United States.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Colonial Group industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Energy Distribution and Storage
- NAICS
- Petroleum and Petroleum Products Merchant Wholesalers (except Bulk Stations and Terminals) (424720), Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals (424710), Motor Vehicle Supplies and New Parts Merchant Wholesalers (42312), Professional and Commercial Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers (4234)
- SIC
- Wholesale-Petroleum & Petroleum Products (No Bulk Stations) (5172), Wholesale-Petroleum Bulk Stations & Terminals (5171), Wholesale-Motor Vehicle Supplies & New Parts (5013)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Marine Bunkering & Port Fuel Supply (EUALAIAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Marine Lubricants Supply & Services (Cylinder/System Oils) (TLAHAKAJ), Marine Fueling & Engine Fluids Retail (Oil, Additives, Lubricants) (CRAMAIAK)
Keywords
Where Colonial Group is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Savannah
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices10 records
Markets served
Colonial Group business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Wholesale Petroleum Marketing: Colonial Oil Industries provides fuel and lubricant supply and distribution services generating revenue from wholesale petroleum product sales to commercial and industrial customers.
- Terminal Storage Services: Colonial Terminals generates revenue from liquid and dry bulk storage facilities providing handling and storage services for various products including petroleum, chemicals, and dry bulk commodities.
- Chemical Distribution: Colonial Chemical Solutions generates revenue as leading independent distributor of industrial and commercial chemicals in the South Atlantic region, providing products and logistics services.
- Natural Gas Marketing and Distribution: Colonial Energy delivers natural gas supplies to utilities, power generators, and institutional and commercial customers in the Eastern United States.
- Marine Bunkering Services: Colonial Towing provides bunkering services delivering marine grade fuels in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
- Retail Fuel and Convenience Stores: Enmarket operates retail fuel and convenience stores with more than 130 locations throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels7 records
Marketing channels7 records
Colonial Group product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Colonial Group operates a diversified portfolio of energy, storage, and distribution businesses through nine wholly-owned subsidiaries, providing wholesale fuel and lubricant distribution, liquid and dry bulk terminal storage, natural gas marketing, industrial chemical distribution, marine bunkering services, fleet transportation, water treatment additives, and retail fuel and convenience store operations. The company serves wholesale, commercial, industrial, retail, marine, and government customers across 34 states with company-owned terminal infrastructure and an integrated logistics network anchored in Savannah, Georgia.
Product overview
Colonial Group is a diversified energy, storage, and distribution company structured as a platform of nine distinct business units operating across the energy, chemicals, logistics, and retail sectors. The core offerings include Colonial Oil Industries (fuel/lubricant distribution), Colonial Terminals (bulk storage), Colonial Energy (natural gas), Colonial Chemical Solutions (chemical distribution), Colonial Towing (marine bunkering), Colonial Transportation Solutions (fleet logistics), Aqua Smart (water treatment via SeaQuest products), Crown Carbon Reduction Technologies (sustainability/carbon reduction solutions), and Enmarket (retail fuel/convenience stores with 130+ locations). These business units share core competencies in intermodal logistics and bulk product transportation, storage, and distribution, with most leveraging the company's Savannah-based infrastructure including proximity to the Port of Savannah. The portfolio is organized as separate standalone businesses under the parent company, each targeting different market segments while maintaining shared support functions in HR, Finance, and EHS.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Colonial Oil Industries: Fuel and lubricant supply and distribution services to wholesale, commercial, industrial, retail, marine, and cardlock customers across 34 states
- Colonial Terminals
- Colonial Energy
- Colonial Chemical Solutions
- Colonial Towing
- Colonial Transportation Solutions
- Enmarket
- Aqua Smart
- Crown Carbon Reduction Technologies
Products and services
- Colonial Oil Industries (COI) Provides fuel and lubricant supply and distribution services to wholesale, commercial, industrial, retail, marine, and cardlock customers across 34 states, supporting gasoline, diesel, renewable fuels, marine, and lubricant demands on a 24/7/365 basis.
- Colonial Terminals (CTI) Owns and operates the largest independent liquid and dry bulk storage facilities with breakbulk capability in the Southeastern United States, providing storage and handling for petroleum, chemicals, and other bulk products with marine, rail, and truck access.
- Colonial Energy (CEI) Delivers reliable natural gas supplies at competitive prices to utilities, power generators, and institutional and commercial customers in the Eastern United States.
- Colonial Chemical Solutions (CCS) Leading independent distributor of industrial and commercial chemicals in the South Atlantic region, operating warehouses in Savannah, GA; Charlotte, NC; Richmond, VA; and Atlanta, GA, and providing repackaging, custom blending, and storage services.
- Colonial Towing (CTOW) Specializes in providing marine bunkering services in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina, partnering with Colonial Oil Industries to deliver marine grade fuels.
- Colonial Transportation Solutions (CTS) Owns and operates a fleet of trucks, trailers, and tank wagons delivering diesel fuel blends, diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), seasonal fuel blends, lubricants, and chemicals in bulk and packaged quantities.
- Aqua Smart (ASI) Creator and exclusive global manufacturer of SeaQuest, a unique water treatment additive made from 100% food-grade ingredients that keeps orthophosphate and polyphosphate in equilibrium without forming mineral scale in water pipes.
- Crown Carbon Reduction Technologies (CCRT) Provides comprehensive solutions that improve efficiency and sustainability of mining and energy-producing industries, enabling customers to lower carbon footprint, meet regulatory standards, and achieve environmental objectives through fuel catalysts and process chemicals.
- Enmarket (ENK) Chain of retail fuel and convenience stores with more than 130 locations throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, offering fuel, food, and convenience retail services to individual consumers.
Quantifiable outcome
- 75%+ GHG emission reduction when burning renewable diesel in transportation and marine fleet assets
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Colonial Group
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments8 records
Ideal customer profiles8 records
Colonial Group technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Colonial Group partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Proman and Stena BulkcoreColonial Terminals completed first ever methanol bunkering at Port of Savannah for Stena Provident, one of six state-of-the-art methanol-fueled IMOIIMeMAX ships commissioned through the Proman and Stena Bulk partnership. Vessel successfully loaded almost 1,000 MT of methanol at Colonial Terminals' Lathrop 2 facility.
- NestecoreColonial Oil Industries partnered with Neste in January 2024 to offer renewable diesel to customers and businesses in the region. Renewable diesel is a lower-carbon alternative produced from renewable raw materials such as used cooking oil and animal fat waste, significantly reducing GHG emissions.
- Bethesda AcademyminorEnmarket is partnering with Bethesda Academy in Savannah by entering a land leasing agreement providing sustainable funding source for the school to offer educational programs for generations to come.
- Norfolk SoutherncoreColonial Terminals acquired 16.7 acres of land adjacent to existing Colonial Terminal riverfront facility and Norfolk Southern rail facility. Partnership enables development of $100M+ breakbulk infrastructure along Savannah River with direct Norfolk Southern rail access. Project expected to allow in excess of one million tons of throughput and support wide-span berth for steel, paper, and forest products.
- Chevron Renewable Energy GroupminorColonial Oil partnered with Chevron Renewable Energy Group and other producers of biodiesel and renewable diesel to introduce higher blends of biodiesel into distribution channels and develop methodology for quantifying carbon reduction benefits for customers.
- SpheraminorColonial partnered with Sphera, a global company providing safety and sustainability data performance, to calculate baseline GHG inventory for Scope 1 and 2 emissions for fiscal year ending September 30, 2023.
- Freedom Pines FuelsminorColonial Terminals received Mitsui product used in making Sustainable Blending Component (SBC)/Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to be delivered to Soperton, GA where it will be processed at Freedom Pines Fuels facility - the first and only SBC plant of its kind in the world.
- DNVcoreColonial Group engaged with DNV Business Assurance USA, Inc. to identify and prioritize company's environmental, social, and governance issues. Partnership conducted stakeholder engagement, materiality assessment, and ESG capacity assessment across all business units.
Scale indicators16 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Colonial Group competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- World Fuel Services: World Fuel Services (now World Kinect) is a global fuel and energy services company with major marine bunkering and land-based fuel distribution operations. Directly comparable to Colonial Oil Industries' wholesale petroleum and Colonial Towing's marine bunkering business across multiple geographies.
- Global Partners LP: Global Partners is a Northeast US petroleum distribution and terminal storage company combining wholesale fuels, terminal operations, and convenience retail. Closely mirrors Colonial's integrated petroleum-plus-terminal-plus-retail model, though with a New England rather than Southeastern US footprint.
- Sunoco LP: Sunoco LP is one of the largest wholesale motor fuel distributors in the US with significant terminal operations and is a partnership of Energy Transfer. Direct competitor to Colonial Oil Industries in wholesale fuel distribution across overlapping Southeastern states.
- Parkland Corporation: Parkland is a Canadian-based fuel and convenience retail distributor with growing US operations, combining retail fuel stations, wholesale fuel distribution, and terminal storage. Comparable diversified fuel platform model with similar multi-segment revenue structure.
- Buckeye Partners: Buckeye Partners operates one of the largest US independent liquid petroleum pipeline and terminal networks, including the Wilmington terminal Colonial acquired from it in 2023. Directly comparable terminal storage and bulk liquid handling business.
- Mansfield Energy Corp: Mansfield Energy is one of the largest US independent distributors of fuel and lubricants, serving commercial, industrial, and government customers across all 50 states. Closely comparable to Colonial Oil Industries' wholesale petroleum and lubricant distribution operations.
- Murphy USA: Murphy USA operates a chain of retail fuel and convenience stores primarily in the Southeastern US near Walmart locations, directly comparable to Colonial's Enmarket subsidiary (130+ retail fuel/c-store locations across NC/SC/GA).
Broad incumbents
- Kinder Morgan: Kinder Morgan is one of the largest North American energy infrastructure companies with major petroleum, chemical, and liquids terminal operations. Broad incumbent competitor to Colonial Terminals in bulk liquid storage across the US Gulf Coast and Eastern seaboard.
- Plains All American Pipeline: Plains All American is a major US midstream energy company with crude oil and natural gas liquids transportation and storage infrastructure. Larger-scale incumbent in the bulk liquid storage segment where Colonial Terminals operates.
- Delek US Holdings: Delek US Holdings operates refineries and wholesale fuel distribution across the Southeastern US, providing integrated downstream fuel supply. Comparable wholesale fuel distribution presence in overlapping Southeastern geographies, though with refining integration Colonial lacks.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Colonial Group social profiles
Digital presenceColonial Group financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Colonial Group leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles15 records
Colonial Group subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries9 records
Colonial Group funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Colonial Group M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Colonial Group
What does Colonial Group do?
Colonial Group operates a diversified portfolio of energy, storage, and distribution businesses through nine wholly-owned subsidiaries, providing wholesale fuel and lubricant distribution, liquid and dry bulk terminal storage, natural gas marketing, industrial chemical distribution, marine bunkering services, fleet transportation, water treatment additives, and retail fuel and convenience store operations. The company serves wholesale, commercial, industrial, retail, marine, and government customers across 34 states with company-owned terminal infrastructure and an integrated logistics network anchored in Savannah, Georgia.
Is Colonial Group a public or private company?
Colonial Group is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Colonial Group founded?
Colonial Group was founded in 1921. It employs 501 to 1,000 people.
Where is Colonial Group based?
Colonial Group is headquartered in Savannah, United States, in the North America region.
How does Colonial Group make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Wholesale Petroleum Marketing is the primary driver. The others are terminal Storage Services, chemical Distribution, natural Gas Marketing and Distribution, marine Bunkering Services and retail Fuel and Convenience Stores.
Who are Colonial Group's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are World Fuel Services, Global Partners LP, Sunoco LP, Parkland Corporation, Buckeye Partners, Mansfield Energy Corp and Murphy USA. Broad incumbents are Kinder Morgan, Plains All American Pipeline and Delek US Holdings.
Does Colonial Group have an API?
No public API is recorded for Colonial Group.
What industry is Colonial Group in?
Colonial Group's product category is Energy Distribution and Storage. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUALAIAG, Marine Bunkering & Port Fuel Supply, with a secondary code of TLAHAKAJ, Marine Lubricants Supply & Services (Cylinder/System Oils). Its NAICS code is 424720 and its SIC code is 5172.