Glencore fails to repeat oil trading success
A less volatile 2021 offers fewer opportunities for profit
Commodity trader Glencore recorded an adjusted Ebit of $672mn in the first half of 2021, down by 47pc compared with $1.265bn the same period last year as the firm’s traders found the oil market less conducive to delivering the record returns available in H1 2020. An improved contribution from the firm’s coal trading was not enough to offset “a return by oil back to within its more normal range, albeit towards the top end”. “Exceptional price movements and dislocations enabled our oil department to deliver a record half-yearly performance in H1 2020,” the firm says. But “due to a steadily increasing oil price trend this year, volatility was rather muted, with Brent near-dated implied volatili
Also in this section
3 May 2024
Upcoming elections are likely to deliver a win for the party of president Andres Lopez Obrador, but analysts differ over to what degree his successor will stick to his energy policies
2 May 2024
Faster-than-expected economic growth fails to mask macro imbalances and shifting structural oil product trends
1 May 2024
Energean CEO Mathios Rigas looks to results of critical Anchois appraisal well
30 April 2024
While its regional neighbours reap the rewards of oil and gas success, Iraq’s hydrocarbons sector is lagging behind