Big Oil’s Trading Arms Struggle to Navigate Trump-Era Volatility

Over the past decade, scores of Big Oil companies have set up separate trading divisions that frequently rake in billions in profits that help pad their bottom lines whenever oil and gas prices fall. In fact, the oil majors typically handle more barrels than leading commodity traders such as Vitol, Trafigura, Glencore and Mercuria, according to Bloomberg. These companies usually view high volatility in the markets as a blessing, allowing them to make big bets and generate outsized profits.  To wit, giant commodity traders generated record…