The annual earnings of energy trader Danske Commodities have fallen by 48%
Danish energy trader Danske Commodities announced a 48% decline in profits for the year 2024, mainly due to volatility in gas prices. This was partly caused by EU regulations to fill storage 90 percent before winter and the stoppage of Russian transit gas via Ukraine. Danske Commodities (owned by Norwegian oil producer Equinor) reported a full-year adjusted profit before tax of 186 millions euros ($204million), down from 359 millions euros in 2023. The company's earnings are expected to be between 100 and 200 millions euros in 2025 before taxes.
Sources say Vitol will post a net profit of $8 to $8.5 billion in 2024.
Two industry sources said that Vitol was the world's largest energy trader in 2024. This is a significant drop from its record-breaking profits of 2022 and 203, but it still outperformed rivals by an enormous margin, despite lower volatility. The energy traders made record profits between 2022 and 2023, as the market recovered from the pandemic. They also faced shortages of gas following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Vitol has declined to comment. Vitol has made $45 billion over the past five years, a figure that was previously unimaginable to oil traders.
Sources say Vitol will post a net profit of $8.0-8.5 billion in 2024.
Two industry sources said that the world's largest energy trader Vitol, despite lower volatility in 2024, made a profit between $8.0 and $8.5 billion. This was a huge margin over its rivals for the third consecutive year. The energy traders made record profits between 2022-2023, as the market recovered from the pandemic of coronavirus and faced gas shortages unprecedented in history following Russia's invasion. Vitol has declined to comment. Vitol has made $45 billion over the past five years, a figure that was previously unimaginable to oil traders.
Eni sells stakes to Vitol in upstream projects in Ivory Coast and Congo
The Italian energy group Eni announced on Wednesday that it had agreed to sell its stakes in the upstream assets of the Ivory Coast, and the Republic of the Congo, to the global energy trader Vitol. Eni stated that the deal is worth $1.65bn based on an appraisal from January 1, 2024. However, there will be a cash payment at closing. Eni announced that Vitol would acquire an interest on oil and gas producing assets, and blocks, which are undergoing exploration appraisal and development. Eni will retain a 77.25% stake in the Baleine Project in Ivory Coast and Vitol a 30% interest.
Vitol and Glencore receive $380 Million award in Nigerian LNG litigation
Court documents obtained by revealed that trading houses Vitol, Glencore, and their gas suppliers, trading firms Taleveras won a legal case in London against Nigeria's only liquefied gas (LNG), producer, for not delivering cargoes. The London High Court and Court of Appeal heard the case, the latest of a series of lawsuits filed by buyers against producers and sellers for non-delivery of goods after gas prices rose from the lows reached during the COVID epidemic when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 20, 2022.
Vitol and Glencore receive $380 Million award in Nigerian LNG litigation
Court documents obtained by revealed that trading houses Vitol, Glencore, and their gas suppliers, trading firms Taleveras won a legal fight in London against Nigeria's only liquefied gas (LNG), producer, for not delivering cargoes. The London High Court and Court of Appeal heard the case, the latest of a series of lawsuits filed by buyers and sellers for non-delivery of goods after prices rose from the lows reached during the COVID epidemic when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 20, 2022. Taleveras filed a lawsuit against a Nigerian venture known as NLNG, which included Shell TotalEnergies, Eni, and other partners, four year ago.
Low Carbon, a UK investment company, sells 6 GW of Dutch battery storage.
Low Carbon, a UK-based renewables energy investor, has announced that it sold a portfolio of 6 gigawatts of battery storage project in the Netherlands to S4 Energy. S4 Energy is owned by global commodities trader Castleton Commodities International. According to Low Carbon, the battery storage portfolio in the Netherlands is among the largest in development. It should help balance the supply and demand of energy on the grid, as the Netherlands aims to reach 39% renewables by 2030. The battery storage project was…
Data shows that the battery capacity of Germany's power grid will increase by almost a third between 2024 and 2028.
Official data released on Thursday showed that the capacity of Germany's grid batteries used to stabilize electricity networks had increased by almost a third this year. This is a result of efforts to accommodate more renewable energy. Berlin's government is aiming for wind and solar energy to make up 80% of all electricity by 2030. In the first half 2024, renewables accounted for 60% of power production. Storage is needed to balance the supply and demand of the system and to reduce the volatility in wholesale power prices. The government does not have a set of targets for the amount of storage that needs to be built.
VPI, backed by Vitol, invests up to 450 million euros in German batteries
VPI chief executive said that the company, which is backed by Vitol, the largest energy trader in the world, would invest up to 450 millions euros in Germany's battery projects over the next 3 to 5 years. Germany is planning to expand its renewable energy capacity rapidly to 80% by 2030, from 40% currently. This will require an increase in storage of energy to help balance the supply and demand within the system. VPI, which already has power assets in Britain and Ireland, said that the joint venture between Quantitas Energy and VPI would be their first investment in the country.
APPEC-Gunvor expanding Asia operations and into power, according to chairman
Gunvor Group, a global energy trader, is expanding its Asia operations in order to expand into existing markets, such as liquefied petrol gas (LPG), gasoline, naphtha and aromatics, as well as new areas, including power. Power is one of the areas that Torbjorn Tornqvist - who is also a founder - said had potential in Asia. He was speaking on the sidelines the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference Conference (APPEC), which took place on Monday. Gunvor, a Geneva-based company, has its main Asian trading hub in Singapore. It employs 160 people there and will concentrate on regional ambitions both for conventional and renewable energy.
Gunvor Returns to Profit in 2019
Energy trader Gunvor Group returned to profit in 2019 after its first net loss a year earlier, helped by record earnings in its U.S. division, and said business so far in 2020 remained strong.The Geneva-based firm, which reported a 2019 net profit of $381 million after a loss of $330 million in 2018, said on Tuesday it was also helped last year by earnings from gas trading and its European refining business.But the group, one of the world's top five oil traders, said revenue dipped to $75 billion in 2019 from $87 billion in 2018.Gunvor, which launched its U.S.
Is an Oil Market Recovery Underway? Energy Trader Mercuria Sees Positive Signs
Global oil markets are showing early signs of re-balancing after production cuts by OPEC and the United States, with the market's pricing structure indicating that storing oil on idle tankers may soon no longer be profitable, Mercuria Energy Group said.Oil futures are cheaper for nearby delivery than for a few months ahead, a pricing structure known as contango, which is usually a sign of oversupply. Traders use this structure to store oil to sell it later at a profit.The contango for Brent oil futures has shrunk from more than $3 a barrel during most of April to around $1.50 a barrel on Friday.
Pieridae Mulls Extensions with Uniper
Canadian energy company has negotiated extensions of the key deadlines under its 20-year agreement with German energy trader Uniper.These include expected commercial deliveries of LNG gas to Uniper to start between November 30, 2024 and May 31, 2025, and the extension of the deadline to make a positive financial investment decision (FID) for the company’s proposed Goldboro LNG facility to September 30, 2020.The 20-year agreement with Uniper is for half the liquefied natural gas produced at Goldboro or 5 mmtpa (million…
Swiss Utility in Talks to Buy LNG from Canada's Goldboro Project
Axpo, a Swiss utility and energy trader, said on Thursday it was in talks for a 10-year supply deal with a Canadian company planning to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal.A sales and purchase agreement would boost the chances that Pieridae Energy would decide to build the C$10 billion ($7.6 billion) Goldboro project, which would be the first LNG export terminal on Canada's East Coast.Canada is rich in oil and gas but has yet to export major shipments of LNG to Asia from its West Coast or across the Atlantic from its East Coast."Under the term sheet with Pieridae Energy…
Gunvor Opening London Trading Office, Closes Bahamas
Global energy trader Gunvor Group is opening its first London office while also closing its trading desk in the Bahamas to increase efficiency in North America, sources familiar with the matter said.Gunvor had recently recruited a natural gas trading team for London, the sources told Reuters, adding that the Switzerland-based firm briefly had one trader in London a few years ago but this latest push was on a larger scale.Natural gas accounted for 23 percent of Gunvor's traded volumes last year while crude oil accounted for 30 percent.
Vitol Invests in Coal-to-oil Venture as Shipping Fuel Rules Loom
Energy trader Vitol and coal miner Peabody Energy are partnering with start-up Arq to turn coal waste into a low-sulphur oil product that could be an alternative fuel for shippers as new U.N. pollution rules loom, the companies said in a statement.Global oil and shipping companies are looking at any and all options to avoid becoming a casualty of the major market dislocations that the new standards will create when they come into effect in 2020.The U.N. International Maritime Organization (IMO) will ban ships using fuel with a sulphur content higher than 0.5 percent…
Equinor Acquires Energy Trader Danske Commodities
Norwegian oil and gas major Equinor, formerly Statoil, is acquiring the Danish energy trading company, Danske Commodities for EUR 400 million (USD 470 mln). "Equinor has reached agreement to buy 100% of the shares in Danish energy trading company Danske Commodities (DC) for EUR 400 million, with smaller contingent payments depending on DC’s performance over the next couple of years," said a press release from the company. This acquisition – of one of Europe’s largest short-term electricity traders – supports Equinor’s development towards becoming a broad energy company.
LNG Market to Suffer From Oversupply Until 2021 - Vitol
Global prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will face pressure from oversupply over the next two to three years, particularly in warmer months, top energy trader Vitol said on Wednesday. New LNG production in countries such as the United States and Cameroon that is set to start up in the coming months means pressure on the rapidly expanding market will be particularly felt in 2019, Pablo Galante Escobar, who heads Vitol's LNG trading, told the IP Week conference. "We still see over the next two to three years a market that is structurally oversupplied, particularly in summer, Escobar said. Reporting by Ron Bousso
Lukoil Mulls Sale of Litasco Trader, CEO Confirms
Vagit Alekperov, the Chief Executive Officer of Russia's No.2 oil producer Lukoil , confirmed on Wednesday that the company was considering the sale of Swiss unit Litasco. He also told reporters the board of Lukoil would take a decision on the Litasco sale in November. Earlier on Wednesday, industry sources told Reuters that Lukoil was considering selling Litasco because new U.S. sanctions on Russia would make it harder for the Geneva-based energy trader to raise new funds. (Reporting by Olesya Astakhova; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by Dmitry Solovyov)
At Noble Group, Staff Exits and Debt Increase Risks
Noble shares fall as much as 49 pct after overhaul plan. Noble Group is slimming down drastically to its core Asian coal-trading business, but that may not be enough to revive its fortunes due to a staff exodus, shrunken balance sheet and debts of more than $3 billion, analysts and industry sources say. Once Asia's largest commodities trading house, Singapore-listed Noble is a shadow of what it was during the boom years, when it snapped up assets from sugar mills to coal mines and expanded globally to rival Glencore and Trafigura. In a dramatic overhaul announced on Wednesday, it sold its U.S.
