Swiss-based Mercuria Energy Group has hired two oil traders from Totsa, the trading arm of French energy major TotalEnergies 
TTE, as it expands crude trading operations, trade sources said on Tuesday.
The crude oil traders, Naoaki Matsuo and Thibault Drillon, are expected to start at Mercuria after completing their three-month gardening leave in late May to June, said the sources who declined to be named due to company policies.
Matsuo, who was working with PetroChina International 
601857 and Itochu 
8001 before Totsa, is based in Singapore, the sources said. Drillon was last based in Geneva, Switzerland, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Mercuria declined to comment.