Vitol bags record profits, 1H 2022 beats full-year 2021 - report

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - Oil trading giant Vitol Group has smashed its previous record by making more profit in the first half of 2022 than in the whole of 2021, according to an exclusive report published by Reuters Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The trading outfit made close to $4.5 billion in the first six months of this year, compared record net profit of just over $4.2 billion last year, as oil, natural gas, and other commodity prices soared.

In the previous year, which was dominated by the Covid pandemic, Vitol still managed to bank a $3.2 billion profit. In the same year, Vitol executives and employees shared a bonus pot of $2.9 billion. 

Vitol, the world's largest independent oil trader, declined to comment. The privately-held firm does not disclose its net profit.

In May, Vitol announced it had halted spot trading in Russian oil and would leave the country once existing term contracts had wound down.