By Robert Harvey
LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) – Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil trader by volume, paid its shareholders $5.9 billion in 2025 through its annual share buyback scheme, according to a company filing reviewed by Reuters.
Geneva-headquartered Vitol had rewarded its shareholders with $10.6 billion in 2024, the highest on record.
The year-on-year drop in shareholder payouts coincides with lower profits for the trading house. Vitol’s profits were around $4.2 billion last year, according to the filing it makes annually to the Luxembourg business registry, approximately half of the $8.7 billion it made in 2024.
Commodity trading houses including Vitol and its rivals saw lower profits last year as markets normalised from their boom years of 2022-2024 during the peak of post-COVID recovery and dislocations brought about by the Russia-Ukraine war.
Oil and gas markets have faced fresh upheaval this year, though, with the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran bringing volatility and higher prices that trading houses could potentially profit from.
“The geopolitical outlook remains uncertain. Notwithstanding that, the Group expects to achieve a positive result in 2026,” Vitol said in the filing.
Total equity attributable to shareholders was $29.1 billion at year-end last year, down slightly from $30.6 billion at the end of 2024.
Elsewhere in the filing, Vitol said a transaction with Italian major Eni for assets in the Republic of Congo had been terminated after reaching a long stop date in March 2026.
(Reporting by Robert Harvey in London; Editing by Tom Hogue)