Oil
Significant talent moves
Talent search and competitive intelligence specialists
We start with Shai Barnea, who advances to Head-Global Gasoline at Freepoint Commodities from being an MD there since 2012. He had previously been in petroleum derivatives products trading for RBS Sempra Commodities and a VP at Barclays Capital.
Two new faces in oil products team at Aramco Trading in the UK: Marcello Iura and Thomas Ogilvie. Marcello becomes Senior Trader-Middle Distillates after his arrival from the London desk of Kuwait Petroleum, where he was senior trader. Most of his career has been spent in trade and supply with the Italian arm of the Q8 company since he joined in 2001 to supervise retail at petrol stations in Northern Italy. Thomas is newly appointed Gasoline Trader. Most recently trading on the copper desk of Trafigura in Geneva, he has previously been in distillate analysis and gasoline operations for BP.
Andrea Fraccaroli is made Crude Oil Trader by BB Energy Trading in London. Eni has been Andrea’s employer for the past 11 years, starting in the parent company as a risk control analyst before heading to Eni T&S and trading in West African and Mediterranean crude oil.
As the latest addition at Gunvor, Xin Ying Tan in Singapore comes in to be Oil Trader from having the equivalent title for Citi since 2018. Three years previously, she’d learned about middle distillates market analysis as an oil trading intern with Koch S&T.
*Based on data gathered by Commodity Appointments’ Oil team
*Based on data gathered by Commodity Appointments’ Oil team
Royal Dutch Shell has confirmed it is promoting Stacie Pitts to head its global crude oil trading and supply business, with the retirement of current VP Mark Quartermain in the summer of 2021. Until now she has been the leader of Shell’s gasoline desk. Also promoted are Alice Acuna, to head LNG trading, and Karrie Trauth who will take charge of shipping and maritime.
Daniel Woodbridge is the new Global Head-Gasoline for Trafigura after seven years of trading gasoline at its Singapore office. For three years from 2009, he was in London as a commodity derivatives trader for RBS. Trafigura in Geneva chooses Boota Singh for Trader of North Sea dated crude. Boota has traded futures and dated crude for Shell in London, as well as having had a spin with Shell Western in Barbados trading options.
Gunvor adds Justin Amoah from PetroChina International as Crude Oil Trader at the Houston office. Originally a media reporter on oil markets, Justin went into trading with Northern Tier Energy and World Fuel Services before becoming a financial crude oil trader at PetroChina International (America) in 2015.
Arriving as Litasco/Lukoil’s latest Crude Oil Trader in Geneva, Alexandre Mikhov signs from London-based crude oil trading at Aramco and for Petronas. Other past names on his track record include Mitsui Bussan Commodities and Singapore brokerage McQuilling Partners.
In at Aramco Trading for Crude Oil Trader is Benjamin Sherman, moving within London from having similar responsibilities with Mercuria Energy Trading. His first Mercuria role had been in Singapore, handling oil risk and energy analytics, until switching within the oil team to operations and then to trading.
Another departure from Mercuria involves Pasi Siitonen, who remains a crude oil trader but now with Alta Trading UK (formerly Arcadia Trading). Next year marks 25 years in oil trading for Pasi, originally with Neste followed by spins with Trafigura, Morgan Stanley and Noble besides Mercuria.
Crude Trader joins Gunvor’s Houston team...
Former Glencore Asia oil/LNG derivatives team leader Daniel Liu joins Citadel as Portfolio Manager to establish a commodities trading base for the company in Singapore, starting with oil and refined products. Until 2019 Daniel had been Singapore-based for Goldman Sachs, rising in his time there from ED/Oil Trader to MD/Head-Oil Trading Asia.
Russ Camp is newly appointed Trader/Supervisor at Koch S&T in Houston, returning him to the company where he was manager/controller between 2000-2002 and trading leader in gasoline, ethanol and oil from 2006 until 2017. For the past three years he’s been VP-Supply & Trading for U.S. Oil.
In hiring Mike Shaw, Mocoh in Geneva gains a COO/Systems Analyst who has previously headed oil trading operations for Mercuria, been CCO of Hestya Energy in Amsterdam and was director of operations for Milio International in Dubai. Mike’s most recent berth: as Head of Operations for Rosneft Trading.
A move to Geneva returns Frederic Lassau to Total. He spent five years trading middle distillates for the group in The Netherlands ahead of a nine-year spell with Shell Trading in Singapore and Rotterdam, followed by his recruitment by B.B. Energy in 2017 to be global head of middle distillates and biofuels trading. Now back at Total, Frederic becomes Manager-Europe for trading diesel oil.
Houston resident Ryan Carver joins ARM Energy in crude oil trading. He was previously employed at Element Americas in crude oil BD and trading and before that was with Axia Energy, where he was VP for oil and gas marketing. Ryan’s back story also includes crude-trader placings with Vitol and Astra Oil.
News from Engie Global Markets that it makes Loïc Balland an Oil and Macro-Market Analyst with its Paris energy management solutions team. Loïc comes from Energy Aspects in London, modelling crude and oil products demand and pricing.
Sam Alderson was an oil analyst for Energy Aspects until moving to Petroineos Trading for crude analysis in 2018. He remains in London for a new post as Oil Analyst with Mercuria Energy Trading.
A third former Energy Aspects analyst making a move is Gengyuan Chen. His new London base at the Statkraft prop trading team finds him as Senior Oil Analyst. Gengyuan has also been a Nomura analyst and an ex-Citadel commodities quant developer.
Adnoc Global Trading, Abu Dhabi state-owned Adnoc's joint venture with Eni of Italy and OMV of Austria, recruits Philipp Pluch and Mukul Bapat to be Senior Crude Traders. Philipp joins from OMV, Mukul has traded crude for Shell in Singapore and for Reliance in India.
Although his new move to be Energy Trader at Pavilion Energy is from S&P Global Platts, Mathieu Sorel is an ex-VP in oil trading for BNP Paribas in London and Singapore. Previously when at Standard Chartered Bank his title was Director-VP and he’d also had a VP position in the Singapore oil trading team at Morgan Stanley.
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Essar Oil UK says Stein Ivar Bye brings experience in supply and trading as well as in refinery operations to his appointment as CEO. Until now he’s been COO of Preem Oil in Sweden following 25 years with ExxonMobil.
Nearly fourteen years with Chevron before joining Angola LNG in 2017. Fernando Gil is back at the oil giant to fill the national team vacancy for Commercial Manager-Venezuela. It’s a Houston position --- when Fernando was there previously between 2011-2017 his role was in BD for Chevron Corporation Africa/Latin America.
Sean Arbuckle switches from LPG trading analysis with Chevron London to be Shell’s new Senior Analyst in crude market risk. When first with Chevron in 2005 his initial focus had been business analysis for the global marine lubricants division. He’s also covered fuel oil, middle distillates and gasoline.
Meanwhile at Austria’s OMV, Reinhard Florey is reappointed CFO. He’s been in the chair since 2016 and his term of office is now extended by a further three years, He came to the group from being CFO and deputy CEO of Finnish stainless-steel manufacturer Outokumpu Oyj.
In Repsol’s new organisational structure, Luis Cabra will be Exec MD of Energy Transition, Sustainability and Technology and Deputy CEO. Valero Marín, until now CIO/CDO, will be responsible for the Digitalization and Global Services unit. The current Director for the Liquified Petroleum Gas business, Carmen Muñoz, assumes responsibility for the People and Organisation area. María Victoria Zingoni adds to her Exec MD duties the responsibility for Client and Renewables businesses. Repsol also appoints Gabriel Tan to be Biofuels Trader in Singapore, promoting him after two years as a trading operator in light distillates, biofuels and petrochemicals.
Across to liquid fuels group Kempstar based in Miami next, where Kevin McGovern is brought in to be Senior Trader-Crude Oil at their Houston office. Kevin had a similar job title at Chevron in Houston until switching to Arcadia Trading in 2019, again as a senior member of the crude oil trading team.
Adrien Grangé-Cabane is now in Paris, to be Gas & Oil Quant for Engie’s global energy management division. He’s left Paris in 2011 after working in equity derivatives analysis for Société Générale and since then has been with BP in London. SocGen recently published an action plan for an enhanced talent management strategy focused on career and professional development among female employees, together with a gender equality target for women to occupy at least 30% of the banking group’s management roles by 2023.
The final move to highlight in the oil section is that of Drax Group in London hiring Tariq Akbar for Senior Market Analyst. When previously at the U.K. branch of Eni T&S, Tariq had at first been commercial analyst on ETS gas sales desk before switching to analysing North Sea and global crude markets and latterly was the branch’s crude/light ends analyst working on both crude oil and products.
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This is merely a snapshot of some of the recent people moves and associated trends observed by our Oil research team at Commodity.
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