據今日油價網站報道，世界上最大的獨立石油交易商維多宣布，2020年一季度凈利潤暴跌70%。英國《金融時報》周二援引數據報道說，疫情影響導致石油需求和價格不斷下跌,也對石油貿易產生了重大影響。

維多2020年一季度的凈利潤為1.8億美元,而在2019年第一季度，維多每日交易超過700萬桶原油和產品，當期凈利潤高達6億美元。

據英國《金融時報》接觸的業內人士透露，今年伊始維多持有大量石油庫存，并樂觀估計全球石油需求將強于去年。

據報道，在油價暴跌后，維多在一季度結束時股價表現更好，得益于訂購超大型油輪(VLCCs)以在海上儲存石油。英國《金融時報》指出，石油貿易公司通常會從石油市場的供過于求中獲利。維多稱，5月石油市場最糟糕的時期已經結束，該公司執行長Russell Hardy對路透表示，“現在更容易看到未來，因此市場更有能力對供需平衡狀況做出有根據的猜測。”

詹曉晶 編譯自 今日油價網站

原文如下：

World’s Largest Oil Trader Sees Profits Plunge 70%

The world’s largest independent oil trader, privately-held Vitol, saw its net profit collapse by 70 percent in the first quarter of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic and the plunging oil demand and prices took its toll on oil trade, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing figures it has seen.

Vitol’s net profit for Q1 was just US$180 million, according to the figures seen by FT. To compare, in the first quarter of 2019, Vitol – which trades more than 7 million barrels of crude oil and products every day – booked a net income of as much as US$600 million.

According to industry insiders briefed by FT, Vitol started this year holding a large oil inventory, expecting that global oil demand would be stronger than last year’s.

By the end of March, Vitol was already predicting a plunge in oil demand by 20 million barrels per day for the weeks ahead.

After the oil price crash, Vitol has reportedly done better after Q1 ended, benefiting from booking very large crude carriers (VLCCs) in order to store oil at sea. Oil trading houses usually profit from a glut in oil markets, FT notes.

Vitol called the end of the worst period for the oil market in early May, with chief executive Russell Hardy telling Reuters that “It’s a bit easier to see the future, so the market is more able to make an educated guess about what that supply/demand balance looks like. ”