Vitol

Founded in Rotterdam in 1966 by Henk Viëtor and Jacques Detiger, Vitol began by trading fuel-oil barges along the ARA–Rhine corridor. It later established operations in London, the US, Singapore and Geneva; Geneva remains an important technology and risk-management hub.

Vitol trades and delivers crude oil, refined products, natural gas, LNG, LPG, power, biofuels and metals. Its model combines physical trading with shipping, storage, refining, retail fuel networks, power generation and upstream investments, allowing it to manage supply chains rather than only execute financial trades.

The firm is especially strong in physical energy trading and logistics at global scale. Its 2025 review reported 8 million barrels per day of crude oil and products delivered, alongside 1.2 million barrels per day of refining capacity, more than 10,000 service stations, 8 GW of generation capacity and over $13 billion in long-term assets.