Vitol Piles Into North Sea Oil Despite Risk of Bigger Supplies

Vitol Group has built up a significant position in North Sea crude, indicating a bullish bet on benchmark prices despite signs of a looming increase in global supplies.

The world’s top independent oil trader this week bought eight cargoes in a key pricing window run by Platts, a unit of S&P Global Plc, according to traders monitoring it. That marks a continuation of Vitol’s heavy buying recent weeks, something that surprised rivals and lifted prices of physical oil.