By Liz Hampton and Devika Krishna Kumar
(Reuters) – Traders from Exxon Mobil Corp’s natural gas liquids and gasoline units have left, according to three people familiar with the matter, the latest in a stream of departures from its downsized trading operations.
The departures were part of a recent wave of exits as the U.S. oil producer pulled back on trading. Last year’s historic losses and need to preserve capital prompted Exxon to limit trading and cut staff.
Corbin Lawton left last month, according to one source and to Lawton’s LinkedIn profile. Lawton, who spent more than 2 1/2 years at Exxon, joined Factor Gas Liquids Inc in its Houston office, according to his LinkedIn account.
Tim Adams, who was a vice president of NGL marketing at rival BP Plc before joining Exxon as a trader, has resigned, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Danielle Jamieson, a gasoline trader for Exxon, also left the U.S. team last month, according to another person and to Jamieson’s LinkedIn profile. Jamieson, who began trading gasoline for Exxon in July 2019, moved to Exxon’s Imperial Oil Ltd as national pricing manager, according to her LinkedIn.
Lawton and Jamieson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Adams confirmed he resigned but did not provide other comment.
Exxon spokesman Casey North declined to comment citing personnel matters, but said the company is “pleased with our progress over the past couple of years to grow our team and capabilities.” Its scale and reach “give our trading teams a broad footprint and unique knowledge and insights” to generate value.
Two years ago, Exxon hired a cadre of industry veterans to build up a trading unit and rival profitable operations at BP and Royal Dutch Shell.
Michael Paradise and Adam Buller, who joined Exxon in 2019, resigned from the firm’s U.S. trading operations in June, and Paul Butcher, a veteran trader based in Britain, will leave in September, Reuters reported.
Cory Schloss, a feedstocks trader at Exxon Mobil, will take over as the lead trader for international feedstocks over the coming weeks, one person familiar with the matter said.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver and Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
