Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Barclays Plc, the U.K.’s second- biggest bank, hired Marubeni Corp. oil trader Hiroyuki Oda to help meet growing demand from Japanese refiners and fuel wholesalers for hedging against petroleum price swings.

The 35-year-old trader will join the Tokyo office of Barclays Capital, the U.K. bank’s securities unit, three company officials with direct knowledge said on condition of anonymity because the move hasn’t been made public yet.

Barclays wants to boost trading of fuel derivatives, used by refiners and wholesalers to mitigate risks of fluctuations in production costs and prices. Nippon Oil Corp., Japan’s biggest refiner, posted a 51 percent drop in net income for the quarter ended June, citing a drop in profits from fuel exports.

“Commodities trading has been a profit-earning business in the past couple of years despite temporary setbacks during the last several months of economic downturn,” said Ken Hasegawa, the energy team manager at broker Newedge in Tokyo. “It will still be a lucrative business pillar for U.S. and European banks in years ahead.”

A Marubeni spokeswoman wouldn’t confirm or deny Oda’s departure, citing a company rule against disclosing information about employees. A Barclays Capital spokeswoman declined to comment.

Oda had worked at the Japanese trading company for almost 12 years, focusing on energy including coal and petroleum products such as gasoil, the main fuel for trucks, diesel-engine vehicles and agricultural machines. Barclays previously hired another Marubeni oil trader, Satoshi Uchidaya, the officials said.

Gasoil in Singapore plunged from a record $180.85 a barrel on July 3 last year to $44.20 a barrel on March 12. The Asian benchmark traded at $86.40 on Oct. 23, according to Bloomberg data.

To contact the reporters on this story: Shigeru Sato in Tokyo at ssato10@bloomberg.net; Yuji Okada in Tokyo at yokada6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 25, 2009 11:00 EDT