Swiss commodities trading giant Vitol has reported $500 billion in revenues for 2022, an 80% increase year-on-year, thanks largely to last year’s surging oil prices courtesy of Russia’s war on Ukraine and the Western sanctions response.
Source: Reuters
In total, Vitol delivered 7.4 million barrels per day of crude and crude oil products in 2022, and while this was lower than 2021’s deliveries of 7.6 million bpd, prices still led to an 80% jump in revenues.
As reported by Reuters, Vitol expects 2 million bpd demand growth for this year, banking on Chinese economic recovery and demand and air travel.
Also on Monday, U.S.-based Citadel hedge fund warned of a tighter credit situation amid the ongoing banking crisis, but said it did not think this crisis would lead to any major, sustained decline in commodities prices.
Speaking to Reuters, Citadel’s head of commodities, Sebastian Barrack, said that while “the immediate response will be a tightening of regulations and higher capital ratios, which will reduce the velocity of lending,the risk is not systemic at this point. A lot of lending in commodities is collateralised so there won’t be a major impact.”
Crude oil prices were heading lower on Monday as Credit Suisse shares went into freefall after UBS agreed to buy out its rival for $3 billion to shore up the global market. Credit Suisse shares fell some 60% early on Monday, as traders cut long positions amid the past week’s banking turmoil.
On Sunday, Goldman Sachs, which has long been one of the most outspoken oil bulls, said it no longer saw oil hitting the $100 mark this year, as it had earlier forecast. Goldman now has a $94 price tag on crude.
By Josh Owens for Oilprice.com
