World Fuel Services Corporation (WFS, World Fuel) is an energy, commodities, and services company based in Doral, Florida. The company ranked No. 91 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations.[2] WFS focuses on the marketing, trading, and financing of aviation, marine, building, and ground transportation energy commodities and related services. As of 2013, WFS also operates in natural gas and power.
The global leader in marine refueling, in 2018 WFS sold a record total of 21 billion gallons of fuel for $39.8 billion in revenue.[3]
World Fuel operates an asset light business model, which competitors have attempted to mimic.[4]
In 1984, Paul Stebbins and Michael Kasbar founded Trans-Tec Services, Inc., a marine fuel brokerage company.[5] It was headquartered in New York City. Over the next 10 years they grew the company and built a global network of offices. In 1995, Stebbins and Kasbar sold Trans-Tec to International Recovery Corporation, and the company was renamed World Fuel Services.[5]
International Recovery Corporation was founded in Miami in 1984 and went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:INT) in 1986. The company changed its name to World Fuel Services Corporation after acquiring Trans-Tec. Stebbins and Kasbar served as members of the board of directors and managed the marine business, prior to taking on the corporate positions they hold today.[6]
WFS was named as a co-defendant in various lawsuits since it had title to crude oil aboard a Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway train which derailed in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec on July 6, 2013, resulting in multiple deaths.[7] Prior to the accident, WFS had been lauded as the only firm which had grown faster than technology giant Apple across a ten-year span.[8]