Eni Intends to Add 65 Oil, Gas Traders in Its London Office Over Next Year
Eni SpA, Italy’s largest energy company, plans to add 65 people in London over the next year as it groups oil, natural gas and power trading into a single U.K.- based business.
Eni Trading & Shipping has 85 people in London today and plans to reach 150 in 2011, Managing Director Marco Alvera said at a briefing yesterday. About 80 percent of staff will be involved in trading crude oil and products, with the remainder concentrating on natural gas and power, he said.
London was “a natural choice” as the center of Eni’s trading business because of its place as a trading hub and the Rome-based company’s links with the U.K., Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni said. Eni Trading & Shipping also has offices in Amsterdam, Houston, Rome and Singapore and Brussels.
Eni’s decision to add traders in London runs counter to trends in the industry. Independent oil traders Trafigura Beheer BV and Vitol Group are moving staff to Switzerland because of rising personal taxes and increased regulation, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
“Pure traders are leaving London because they are more interested in personal income tax,” Scaroni said in London, noting Russia’s OAO Gazprom is expanding its U.K. trading business. Eni’s decision to centralize in London was taken three years ago, he said.
BP Plc, which employs 3,500 people worldwide in its supply and trading business, said earlier this month it’s shrinking oil trading because a decline in price volatility has cut profits.
Eni’s focus will be on maximizing value from Eni’s 1.7 million barrels a day of oil and gas production, rather than volatility trading, Almera said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Will Kennedy in London at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tim Coulter at tcoulter@bloomberg.net.
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