Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 21, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleOliver Bowen leaves Glencore to join Vitol as head of naphtha trading, marking a significant shift in the commodities trading sector.
By Shariq Khan and Robert Harvey
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Glencore's global head of naphtha trading, Oliver Bowen, is set to leave for rival Vitol, four sources told Reuters on Tuesday, making him the latest top trader to depart from the London-listed commodities trading and mining firm in recent months.
Bowen will start at Vitol on November 7 and oversee the world's largest commodities trader's European naphtha book, one of the sources said.
The sources requested anonymity to discuss confidential information.
Bowen could not be contacted for comment. Vitol and Glencore declined to comment.
Bowen's departure from Glencore comes as the company undertakes a broader reorganization of its trading operations, after facing a sharp slump in earnings from that department. Core earnings from Glencore's energy and steelmaking coal trading activities fell to $306 million in the first half of this year, the lowest for that period since 2016, the company reported in August.
Bowen, 42, has been Glencore's head of naphtha trading since at least 2017, according to a profile on the UK government's Companies House. He served as a director of the UK-based Petrochemical Feedstock Association since February 2017 until he resigned in April this year, the profile showed.
Glencore's current head of oil and gas trading, Alex Sanna, is set to step down from his role at the end of this year, Reuters earlier reported, citing a staff memo. Another Glencore veteran, Maxim Kolupaev, who currently heads gas and power trading for the firm, will replace Sanna, who headed the company's oil trading desk for the past six years.
(Reporting by Shariq Khan in New York and Robert Harvey in London; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Naphtha is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture used primarily as a solvent, in fuel production, and as a feedstock for petrochemical processes.
Trading refers to the buying and selling of financial instruments, such as stocks, bonds, and commodities, with the aim of making a profit.
Core earnings are a company's profits derived from its primary business operations, excluding any income from non-operational activities.
A commodities trader is a professional who buys and sells raw materials or primary agricultural products, such as oil, metals, and grains.
A reorganization in business refers to a significant change in the structure or operations of a company, often aimed at improving efficiency or profitability.
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