Noble Hires Trafigura Oil Trader as Middle East Deputy

Noble Group Ltd said Thursday it had hired Wael Amer, a former Trafigura senior oil trader, as deputy head of the Middle East, North Africa and East Africa, as the Asian commodities trader expands its oil trading and cuts metals exposure.

In the newly created position, Wael Amer will be based in Dubai and report to Raj Kapoor, chief operating officer for the Middle East & Central Asia, and Jeff Frase who is global head of oil liquids.

He was previously head of oil trading for the Middle East and East Africa at Noble's rival Trafigura.

A Noble Group spokesperson declined to comment.

The news comes after Kevin Walter joined the group as head of gas and power trading for Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA) from E.ON. He is reporting to Gareth Griffiths, global head of power and gas in London.

The appointment comes as Asia's largest commodities merchant seeks to expand in oil, power and gas trading, while cutting its exposure to capital-intensive businesses like copper trading.

Four base metal traders at Noble - Scott Evans, Jeff Romanek, David Freeland and Paul Wilkes - have either left or are leaving the lossmaking metals and minerals division as part of efforts to shore up the balance sheet, sources have told Reuters.



(Reporting by Josephine Mason)