Trafigura goes upstream
The trading house expands its E&P footprint, but does not want to go down the ‘mini-major’ route
Commodity trading houses have had their traditional middleman model squeezed in recent years due to increased focus from majors and other IOCs on pursuing a portfolio player approach. The NOCs are going more heavily into trading, and natural buyers also moving beyond simply being price-takers. Unsurprisingly, these most commercially savvy market operators are evolving to the new paradigm. A shift to greater involvement in the upstream sector—be it debt financing in exchange for barrels, partnerships, including equity stakes, in producers, or even taking stakes in fields themselves—has been one of the key planks in this shift. Since the start of the year, Singapore-based trader Trafigura ha
Also in this section
24 January 2025
Domestic companies in Nigeria and other African jurisdictions are buying assets from existing majors they view as more likely to deliver production upside under their stewardship
23 January 2025
The end of transit, though widely anticipated, leaves Europe paying a third more for gas than a year ago and greatly exposed to supply shocks
23 January 2025
The country’s government and E&P companies are leaving no stone unturned in their quest to increase domestic crude output as BP–ONGC tie-up leads the way
22 January 2025
The return of Donald Trump gives further evidence of ‘big oil’ as an investable asset, with the only question being whether anyone is really surprised
