Top commodity traders pile into the energy transition

  • Date: 24-Jun-2021
  • Source: Financial Times
  • Sector:Oil & Gas
  • Country:Middle East
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Top commodity traders pile into the energy transition

Having traded commodities since the 1990s, Bill Reed was starting to worry he had seen it all and that things would start to get a "little bit boring“. But that was before governments, consumers and banks started to throw their weight behind the energy transition.

"I've not been this optimistic about our industry“‰.“‰.“‰.“‰in a very long time,“ the chief executive of Castleton Commodities International told the Financial Times. "One thing for sure is that the next 15 to 30 years isn't going to look anything like the past 15 to 30.“

Fossil fuels, particularly oil, have provided bumper rewards for commodity traders that have navigated the extreme market volatility of the pandemic. But the sector now sees the shift away from hydrocarbons not as a threat but an opportunity for profit, as it looks to help manage the world's move to cleaner forms of energy.

Market leaders are already sinking cash into renewable power and looking to bulk up in fast-growing markets such as carbon trading, while continuing to invest in oil projects in the expectation that a supply gap will emerge over the next decade.

The rush to play a bigger role in solar, wind and hydrogen is not without its risks. These