By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Julia Payne
LONDON (Reuters) – A number of high-profile energy traders have swapped major oil companies for trading houses in recent weeks, multiple sources told Reuters on Thursday, as talent follows the exchange of assets and as trading houses grow the bonuses.
Trading houses such as Vitol and Trafigura have acquired tens of billions of dollars in assets from major oil companies over the past decade, using profits that have increased since 2022 due to volatility in energy markets caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Private raw materials trading companies have acquired refineries and terminals as major oil companies come under increasing pressure from shareholders to invest in greener energy.
“We have built our asset base while large companies have fewer and fewer assets to trade. Naturally, traders leave to join us,” said a senior executive at a large trading company.
The world’s largest and most profitable oil trader, Vitol, has hired Shell’s head of LNG marketing Mehdi Chennoufi, crude oil trader Lionel Ader from French oil major TotalEnergies and West African crude oil trader from Shell, Michas Barry, three sources familiar with the developments said.
Vitol also hired one of Trafigura’s top oil traders, Jordan Dowle, who specializes in the North Sea and Mediterranean markets, the sources said.
Trafigura has hired at least six traders from major oil companies, according to three separate sources, including BP crude originators Jason Breslaw and London-based Tamoor Ali.
The hire follows recent high-profile departures from BP and Shell.
BP’s head of trading, Sven Boss-Walker, has left the company after 25 years, Reuters reported last month. BP employees have been told he is joining an independent start-up, according to a business source.
Trading company Mercuria hired Shell LNG chief Steve Hill earlier this year. Last year, Mercuria hired Bill McGrath from Shell as managing director of low carbon.
John Lo, who was previously manager of Shell’s LNG and refined products trading, left to specialize in carbon credits, two separate sources said.
Vitol, Trafigura, Mercuria, BP and Shell declined to comment.
The hiring spree by trading firms continues a trend that began a decade ago, when top commodity traders abandoned banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan after the US imposed limits on proprietary trading following the collapses of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns.
Most traders at Vitol, Trafigura and others receive their pay as a percentage of their book profits, according to at least a dozen trading sources. It’s not uncommon for a top trader to make millions of dollars during a successful year, according to sources close to the companies.
Vitol, which makes many of its main trading partners the company, paid $5 billion in dividends last year and rival Trafigura paid $5.9 billion. This resulted in payments of tens of millions of dollars to some shareholder partners, according to the sources.
Vitol and Trafigura declined to comment.
BP, Shell and other large companies face difficulties in matching these bonuses, the sources said, because, as publicly traded companies, they face greater scrutiny from shareholders. BP and Shell CEOs Murray Auchincloss and Wael Sawan took home just over $10 million each in salaries and bonuses last year.
(Additional reporting by Robert Harvey and Ron Bousso; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
