Bakersfield Terminal Crosses Back to Founding Family

Reno, Nev.-based United Pacific Energy, the new owner of Enterprise Products’ former Bakersfield, Calif. LPG rail and truck terminal, sold its first propane loads out of the facility in July. But saying the company is the new owner might not be completely accurate due to the history. The former father-in-law of United Pacific’s owner, David Humphreys, built the terminal to augment his Coast Gas operations in the late 1970s.

That gentleman was industry pioneer and innovator Wayne Harlan, and he’s the grandfather of David W. Humphreys, United Pacific owner David Humphreys’ son, who handles wholesale marketing at the family-owned and -operated business.

The Bakersfield terminal was sold to Cornerstone Propane in the mid-1990s. Cornerstone, to be renamed Coast Energy Group, then sold it to Enterprise Products in 2002. Enterprise, which is retrenching from the West Coast, has also divested properties in Rocklin, Calif. and Reno.

United Pacific Energy, founded by David Humphreys in the 1990s, is one of the largest wholesale LPG companies in California. It owns and operates a truck transportation fleet and railcars. The company comments that the Bakersfield terminal acquisition will complement its existing asset base, as well as serve as a valuable link in the supply chain for providing fuel to its customer network in the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. United Pacific also operates a terminal in Northern California, and is a partner with Suisun City, Calif.-based Sheldon Gas Co. in a San Francisco Bay area LPG terminal. —John Needham