Vitol, the world’s leading independent oil trader, declared a net profit of $13 billion for the year 2023, as reported on Monday by the Financial Times, based on information from sources familiar with the company’s privately-owned results.
This figure marks another year of substantial earnings for Vitol, following its record-breaking performance in 2022.
According to OilPrice.com, the disruptions in energy markets and significant volatility in commodity prices during 2022 and 2023 proved advantageous for major independent trading groups, including Vitol, Trafigura, and Gunvor.
However, Vitol’s earnings notably exceeded those of its closest competitors.
While Vitol’s turnover for 2023 declined to $400 billion from $505 billion in 2022, the volume of crude oil and products traded remained substantial at 7.3 million barrels per day (bpd), only slightly lower than the previous year’s 7.4 million bpd.
In 2022, Vitol achieved a record-high profit of $15.1 billion, largely attributed to the volatile energy markets following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Although the net profit for 2023 was lower compared to the record-breaking year of 2022, it still surpassed Vitol’s 2021 profit by more than threefold.
In comparison, Trafigura reported a net profit of approximately $7.4 billion for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023, up from $7 billion in the previous year—a then-record-high profit for the privately owned trading group.
Gunvor Group also achieved notable success, earning $1.252 billion in net profit on revenue of $127 billion in 2023, marking the second strongest trading result in the group’s history.
The impressive performance of Vitol and other commodity traders has led to the accumulation of significant cash reserves, estimated at up to $120 billion over several years of record profits.
