founded 1966 ; 50 years ago 1966 rotterdam netherlands 1 founder henk vi tor 1 2 jacques detiger 1 2 headquarters geneva switzerland area served global key people ian taylor ceo 3 services energy trading commodity trading revenue us 270 billion 2014 owner vitol holding b.v number of employees 7 500 2014 website www.vitol.com the vitol group is a global energy and commodity trading company that was founded in rotterdam in 1966 by henk vi tor and jacques detiger . 1 2 4 though physical trading logistics and distribution are at the core of the business these are complemented by refining shipping terminals exploration and production power generation mining and retail businesses . vitol has almost 40 offices worldwide and its largest operations are in geneva houston london and singapore . with revenues of 270 billion in 2014 it is the largest independent energy trader in the world and would rank eighth on the fortune global 500 list . 5 because vitol does not publish its profits widely much like most of its competitors in commodity trading it is largely excluded from rankings . but the company does provide financial information to its lenders and some energy groups with which it trades . 6 the company ships more than 270 million tonnes of crude oil per year and controls 200 supertankers and other vessels to move it around the world . on average it handles more than 5 million barrels a day of oil and products roughly equivalent to the daily consumption of japan the world s third largest oil consumer after the united states and china . 7 8 the company s chief executive is ian taylor . vitol is a private company which is owned significantly by a proportion of its employees who are known for their culture of privacy and secrecy from both competitors and the general public . 4 in march 2015 the ft suggested that vitol appeared to make a 1.2 billion dividend distribution . 9 when it comes to the financial industry s richest and most risk taking executives few top those in the world of energy trading . 10 11 contents 1 activities 1.1 trading 1.2 terminals and infrastructure 1.3 refining 1.4 exploration and production 1.5 aviation 1.6 power 2 figures 3 controversies 4 see also 5 references 6 external links activities edit trading edit in addition to the global crude and product trading businesses the company trades coal natural gas power ethanol methanol gasoline lng lpg naphtha bitumen base oils and carbon emissions . 12 13 terminals and infrastructure edit in total vitol has 18.1 million cubic meters of storage capacity across the globe . 14 vitol is the sole owner of vtti b.v. a storage and terminals business with a capacity of around 8.7 million cubic meters mcm in 11 countries netherlands 1.328 mcm 1.118 mcm latvia 1.195 mcm uae 1.180 mcm belgium 0.965 mcm malaysia 0.893 mcm cyprus 0.544 mcm usa 0.452 mcm argentina 0.218 mcm kenya 0.111 mcm russia 0.049 mcm nigeria 0.016 mcm . 15 misc berhad held a 50 % stake in vtti from may 2010 until august 2015 . 16 in january 2012 vitol acquired a stake in a subsidiary of the south african shipping firm grindrod which gives it access to a coal terminal in mozambique . 17 refining edit in addition to offices in dubai and bahrain vitol s key strategic asset in the middle east is the fujairah refinery company limited frcl which operates an 82 000 barrel per day refinery and a 1 034 000 cubic meter tank farm . frcl has further development plans in place which include a 140 000 cubic meter expansion of the tank farm refurbishment of existing refining units and the installation of additional processing units . 18 vitol also has invested in refining assets in bayernoil germany cressier switzerland antwerp belgium and the geelong refinery near melbourne australia . exploration and production edit vitol through its wholly owned subsidiaries arawak energy limited and vitol e & p has interests in various exploration and production projects worldwide . arawak energy is mainly focused on the fsu where it produces oil and gas in ukraine kazakhstan and azerbaijan while vitol e & p holds a portfolio of exploration and development assets along the west african transform margin in ghana and the ivory coast . in february 2014 it was reported that vitol in concert with the abu dhabi investment council had bought the downstream businesses of shell australia excluding aviation for a total of approximately au 2.9 billion . the purchase included shell s geelong refinery and its 870 site retail business along with its bulk fuels bitumen chemicals and part of its lubricants businesses in australia . 19 the business trades as viva energy australia although the shell brand remains on many of its retail products . 20 further in january 2015 vitol in collaboration with eni signed a 7 billion agreement with the government for the production of oil and gas at cape three points in western region of ghana . the contract is expected to help meet ghana s burgeoning energy needs . 21 aviation edit vitol aviation is focused on europe north america and africa serving the world s largest airlines and militaryers with 9.7 million tonnes of jet fuel a year into wing . power edit in 2013 vitol invested in its first power plant vpi immingham in the uk . the combined heat and power plant chp is one of the largest of its kind in europe capable of generating 1 240 mw and up to 930 tonnes of steam per hour which is used by nearby refineries . the gas fired plant provides approximately 2.5 % of uk peak electricity demand . figures edit in 2015 vitol traded 13 oil 146 million tonnes of crude oil sales natural gas over 20 billion cubic meters of physical gas globally lpg 10 million tonnes naphtha 27 million tonnes gasoline 650 000 barrels of physical gasoline traded per day coal over 20 million tonnes power 102 twh of power sales contracted carbon 108 mm tonnes of contracted carbon volume methanol 1.4 million tonnes chemicals 4 million tonnes benzene and paraxylene controversies edit a 2001 article in the observer stated that in 1995 vitol had secretly paid us 1 million to serbian war criminal arkan to settle a deal with a serbian oil company orion . 22 23 vitol has denied all charges arguing that no government agency has ever prosecuted the company in this respect . 24 in 2007 vitol pleaded guilty to grand larceny in a new york court for paying surcharges to iraq s national oil company during saddam s regime and circumventing the un oil for food program . vitol subsequently paid 17.5 million in restitution for its actions . 25 according to an article in the financial times vitol was the company to organise the first controversial sale of libyan rebel oil to tesoro corporation in early april 2011 . 26 according to the financial times the company was approached by the qatari national oil company to sell a cargo of crude oil supplied by the libyans in exchange for technological supplies and fuel for the national transitional council of libya . 27 in september 2012 an article in reuters alleged that the company had bought and sold iranian fuel oil bypassing an eu embargo against tehran . vitol bought 2 million barrels using a ship to ship transfer off the coast of malaysia from a national iranian tanker company vessel and sold it to chinese traders . the article stated that as vitol is based in switzerland which did not implement western sanctions vitol had skirted the charges . 28 in 2013 the telegraph alleged that the company had been using for over a decade an employee benefit trust avoiding paying income tax for its uk staff . 29 see also edit energy law bob finch references edit a b c d meet the mysterious trading firms who control the price of commodities . businessnews . 2011 10 31 . retrieved 2012 03 04 . a b c schneyer joshua 2011 10 28 . commodity traders the trillion dollar club . reuters . retrieved 2012 04 11 . vitol holding b.v. private company information . bloomberg businessweek . retrieved 5 january 2012 . a b o keefe brian . the unseen hand that moves the world s oil . fortune . retrieved 28 february 2013 . rosco announces cash offer for arawak . oil voice . 2008 10 28 . retrieved 2009 02 09 . blas javier 19 march 2015 . vitol said to post highest profit since 2011 as oil prices swing . bloomberg . retrieved 18 october 2015 . schneyer joshua . corrected commodity traders the trillion dollar club . reuters . retrieved 28 october 2011 . hume neil 19 march 2015 . oil trader vitol s profits rebound to 1.35 bn . financial times . retrieved 16 october 2015 . http www.ft.com cms s 0 ddb9200a ce48 11e4 9712 00144feab7de.html axzz4e5r1ndju armitage jim . vitol tough work but staff stay loyal due to huge bonuses . independent . retrieved 23 july 2014 . butcher sarah . two commodity trading houses where average pay is 750k . efinancialcareers . retrieved 15 april 2013 . vitol rnk capital complete inaugural trade on the green exchange pdf press release . evolution markets inc. 2008 03 17 . retrieved 2009 02 09 . a b http www.vitol.com trading.html retrieved on april 1 2014 1 2 vitol buys out oil tank partner s stake in vtti bv for 830m reuters africa vitol buys stake in grindrod s coal terminal uae s fujairah sells refinery stake to vitol . reuters . 2007 05 04 . retrieved 2009 02 09 . fowles shane 2014 02 21 . vitol to retain jobs at geelong refinery after buying shell s assets . geelong advertiser . retrieved 2014 02 21 . viva energy australia . viva energy australia . retrieved 2015 09 07 . gadugah nathan 2015 01 27 . gov t signs 7billion oil and gas agreement to produce 1100 megawatts power . joy online . retrieved 2015 09 07 . barnett antony ; bright martin 2001 07 01 . oil chief paid m to warlord . the guardian . london . http www.theguardian.com world 2001 jul 01 balkans.warcrimes2 retrieved on april 1 2014 http www.heraldscotland.com politics referendum news controversial background of no campaign donor .20752120 retrieved on april 1 2014 http www.thinkadvisor.com 2012 10 09 swiss commodities business may be revamped retrieved on april 1 2014 schneyer joshua 2011 05 25 . us refiner tesoro buys cargo of libyan rebel oil . reuters . http www.ft.com intl cms s 0 93aecc44 d6f3 11e0 bc73 00144feabdc0.html axzz2xcow8fsg retrieved on april 1 2014 http www.reuters.com article 2012 09 26 us iran oil sanctions vitol idusbre88p06c20120926 retrieved on april 1 2014 http www.telegraph.co.uk finance newsbysector energy oilandgas 9771537 oil trader vitol in talks over tax avoidance bill.html retrieved on april 1 2014 external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title vitol & oldid 739805552 categories oil and gas companies of switzerlandoil traders navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity 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