​What people are talking about

France’s Total Energies to Buy LNG from UAE’s Adnoc Gas Under $1 Billion Deal

Adnoc Gas Plc, a listed subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., will provide the super-chilled fuel to the French firm under a three-year agreement running until 2025.

World’s Top LNG Buyer Sees Risk of Another Price Spike This Year

Factors like China’s reopening mean more volatility: Jera CEO.

As Russian gas company Novotek readies for new Arctic production platform, LNG export to Europe beats record

European countries in April bought 12,073 billion cubic meters of liquified natural gas from the warring country.

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What we are currently working on

If you are interested in any of these roles, please reach out to us by clicking the link below or via the contact details at the end of this newsletter. Alternatively, click here for more jobs.

• LNG Physical Trader
• LNG Derivatives Trader
• Senior Power Trader

Bonus Season 2023 – ‘the great retention’?

Bonus Season – otherwise known in recruitment parlance as the ‘great resignation period’, typically distributed between January and April for most financial institutions and commodity traders, is usually synonymous with a flood of talent movement. It’s an annual pattern we observe where once employees have been paid cash in hand and free of any financial clawbacks from their respective employers, this presents the most opportune time for those considering jumping ship. As such, it’s no surprise that during this period many companies tend to be on edge about any possible flight risks lurking within their ranks after bonuses have been paid.

This looming concern has been exacerbated in recent times due to broader themes i.e. rising costs of living, inflation, and also micro themes such as the highly competitive employment market particularly in the high-demand areas of low-carbon fuels (Gas, Power, Emissions, Bio-Fuels LNG), cross-commodity derivatives trading, and quantitative analytics. In addition, the commodities super cycle witnessed over the past two years has opened the floodgates to the new kids on the block – the hedge funds. Offering the most competitive financial premiums for traders and quantitative strategists/analysts/developers, some of whom offer high-flying derivative trading talent, in some cases up to 25% of book after costs, let’s also not forget the sign-on’s! Even some of the most competitive paymasters have found it difficult to retain their top performers under such circumstances.

However, 2023 presents a very different reality. Most leading energy institutions posted their best financial results on record for last year, Aramco an eyewatering US$161Bn, ExxonMobil US$56Bn, Shell US$40Bn, BP US$ 28Bn, Vitol US$ 15Bn, and so on. With the surplus cash, companies are now even more enabled to invest in employee retention schemes with many rebuffing their remuneration structures to maintain competitiveness. This trend has been particularly common amongst the Oil Majors, particularly BP, Chevron, Shell, and Total, who have deployed a wide range of mechanisms to retain their top performers including promotions, salary increases, further defined profit share correlated to individual performance, etc. Oil, LNG, Gas & Power, and Environmental Products have been the desks that benefitted the most from this trend.

With all the above said, we expect low attrition, particularly in the front office, across the board post-bonus season compared to previous years. Now more than ever, companies are more enabled and subsequently under heightened pressure after 2022 financial performance to commensurately reward their key performers, in doing so narrowing the perceived push factors, whether they be financial or career fulfilment related.

Albeit, a very hot hiring market with plenty of external hiring activity, where we observe companies successes in securing talent is in paying just as much attention on their employee value proposition in addition to offering competitive remuneration in order to captivate the passive talent pool.

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Market Moves

• Luc Speeleveld, former Freelance LNG Consultant joins Galp (Lisbon) as Head of LNG/Gas Supply & Origination.
• Jason Hoon, former Energy Trader at EnergyAustralia (Melbourne) joins Mercuria as Head of Trading Australia.
• Nick Osborne, former General Manager – Freight Trading – Crude Shell (London) promoted to Global Carbon and Environmental Products Trading.
• Jacques Ernst, former Head of Risk Management, Director at AXPO (New York) relocates with employer to Singapore as Senior Risk Manager / Head of Risk Management.
• Marco Boldrini, former LNG Marketing Manager at ADNOC LNG (UAE) relocates back to Singapore to head up DXT Commodities.
• Nicholas Yap, former Senior Manager, Quantitative Strategies and Optimization at Diamond Gas Intl. joins BP as LNG Trading Analyst.
• Joel Hernaman, former Carbon Business Development Lead at Woodside (Perth), joins Rio Tinto as Senior Carbon Originator.
• Michael Yip, former LNG Analyst at Bloomberg (Singapore) relocates to London to join Statkraft as Gas and LNG Analyst.
• Benjamin Comninos, former Senior LNG Trader at Cheniere (Singapore) promoted to Director, LNG Trading.
• Bill McGrath, former General Manager – Global Environmental Products at Shell (London) parts ways with the business.

Sami Jacobs

Consultant

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+65 3165 0710

sami@aurexgroup.com

EA 18S9493 | R2092031