Latest News

PetroChina to begin metals trading, considering energy shift

State oil giant PetroChina plans to begin trading metals utilized in the energy shift, according to the brand-new team head, signing up with the global energy majors that are diversifying their portfolios into the commodities.

Richard Fu, a commodities and monetary industry veteran of more than 3 years, has signed up with PetroChina International ( London) Co Ltd as trading manager, he stated in a current post on LinkedIn.

I am honoured to start the green energy transition and minerals service for PetroChina, trading physical and paper copper, lithium, and others, he composed.

PetroChina, the listed arm of Asia's top oil producer China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), did not respond to an ask for comment.

Fu, who was formerly head of commodities at the London branch of Shanghai Pudong Advancement Bank, decreased to comment even more.

A person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be recognized as they are not authorised to speak to the media, said that in addition to lithium and copper, the new PetroChina system might likewise aim to trade nickel and consider going into markets in Europe for trading carbon and electricity.

China's state oil giants have been aiming to diversify their companies, including worldwide, as surging adoption of electric cars slows domestic oil need growth.

International energy traders and producers including U.S. major Exxon Mobil and Saudi Aramco have been diversifying into lithium in specific to capitalise on the shift to electrification and the energy shift.

In 2015, Exxon revealed plans to start producing lithium, used in EV batteries, by 2027.

Saudi Aramco and the United Arab Emirates' Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) plan to extract lithium from salt water in their oilfields, Reuters reported in March.

(source: Reuters)