Global energy trader Vitol said on Monday its 2024 turnover reached $331 billion, down almost 18% from a year earlier, as prices settled after two prior years of heavy disruptions to energy markets.
Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil trader and a major player in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) and power markets, does not disclose net profit. The firm’s net profit was $13 billion in 2023, according to a Financial Times report, and $15 billion in 2022.
Turnover declined “as energy prices moderated and volatility declined in a generally balanced market,” Vitol said.
Trading houses took advantage of market dislocations across commodities created by the COVID pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine and Europe’s energy crisis in 2022-2023, helping them rake in bumper earnings.
Rival trader Trafigura’s profits fell in its 2024 financial year, its results stated.
Volumes of physical energy traded remained broadly flat at 537 million tons equivalent of oil.
Vitol delivered 7.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and products last year, compared to 7.3 million bpd in 2023, as declines in crude, gasoline and gasoil slightly offset higher naphtha and jet fuel volumes.
“We anticipate this trend will continue with diminished demand for road fuels being coupled with increasing demand from aviation and petrochemicals.”
LNG volumes grew 10% to 19.4 million tons equivalent of oil in 2024, Vitol said, while power trading volumes were flat.
“We expect demand for LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), particularly among developing economies, to continue to grow strongly,” Vitol said.
Vitol made key acquisitions in 2024, most notable the acquisition of Italian refining company Saras, in line with a wider strategy among major global trading houses to invest recent years’ bumper earnings into assets.
It also acquired Noble Energy, as it builds out a metals trading business to help further diversify its revenues.
Vitol announced last week it was buying stakes in West African oil and gas assets from Italy’s Eni.
Source: Reuters
