Vitol Made About $2 Billion in First Quarter Despite War Losses
(Bloomberg) -- Vitol Group has told banks it made a first-quarter profit of roughly $2 billion, as the world’s top energy trader moves to reassure lenders over losses in some parts of its business due to the Iran war.
The profit figure, communicated informally during conversations over the past week, was described as indicative, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private interactions. It could still change as the company is still finalizing its accounts for the period, some of the people said.
The conflict in the Middle East upended global energy markets in early March, sending oil and gas prices soaring and disrupting the flow of cargoes, including some owned by Vitol itself that got stuck in the Persian Gulf.
Vitol has been briefing banks after Bloomberg reported on April 11 that the company was reorganizing its derivatives team, which had suffered significant losses after being caught on the wrong side of price moves in the early days of the war. Some of the positions were unwound but others remained in place, Bloomberg reported at the time, and Vitol’s derivatives traders have since offset some of the losses.
The trading house has communicated to its lenders that other parts of its business were highly profitable and that the company maintains strong liquidity, the people said.
The war also continues to cause wild lurches in prices, and Vitol has various positions that are likely to lead to significant gains and losses when they are realized in future periods.
Vitol declined to comment.
Huge dislocations in commodity markets are generally positive for traders like Vitol, which made $37 billion in three years during 2022-24 when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine sparked an energy crisis.
The company, which is owned by about 600 of its top employees, emerged from that period as by far the most profitable trading house in the world. Little known outside the commodities industry, it is a giant of the energy markets handling enough oil every day to supply Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK combined.
Vitol doesn’t formally announce its results publicly but communicates details about its performance to its banks — a crucial relationship in an industry that relies on vast credit lines to finance the cargoes being shipped across the globe.
The company’s full-year profits dropped by about 30% to 50% last year, from $8.7 billion in 2024, according to several people with knowledge of the matter. While that implies the weakest result since before 2022, even a profit of $4.3 billion would rank as Vitol’s fourth best year on record.
Several of Vitol’s rivals, including Gunvor Group and the trading units of oil majors BP Plc, Shell Plc and TotalEnergies SE, have recently flagged strong gains as a result of the Iran war.
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