Crude oil trader Michael Huang is expected to join Exxon Mobil Corp in Singapore soon as the U.S. major expands its trading team to sell its oil into China, the world's top importer of the commodity, three industry sources said.
Huang was recently a Singapore-based crude trader for Chinese independent refiner Wonfull Petrochemical, purchasing feedstock for its Shandong refinery and carrying out hedging activities. He left the company in late June, the sources said on Monday.
Before Wonfull, Huang has worked for China's CEFC International Singapore, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and Bloomberg, the sources said.
A Wonfull official confirmed that Huang had left the company. Huang declined to comment, while ExxonMobil said it does not comment on personnel matters.
ExxonMobil had been looking to hire two crude oil traders in Singapore, one to buy condensate for its local Jurong Aromatics petrochemical plant and the other to market crude to Chinese independent refiners, traders said.
Huang may take on a combined role when he starts work at ExxonMobil, they said, declining to be identified as they were not authorised to speak with media.
ExxonMobil's global oil marketing team in May launched a publicity blitz in the eastern Chinese city of Dongying as it eyed supplying independent refiners there.
Reporting by Florence Tan