Oil Major Trading Programs - Long Term Prospects
I have an offer with an oil major with a respectable operation (Chevron, P66, BP or Shell). Seems like a really great program to become a trader, I think if I dedicate myself to it I will come out prepared to do well and trade some type of oil in a profitable manner. My main concern is my ability to move to other products should oil collapse or a feasible alternate energy source become more relevant. While I realize this wouldn't be an issue for some time to come I know that traders become very specialized and tied down to what products they trade. The ins and outs of energy really excites me but I want to make sure I'm going the route that provides me with long term opportunities as well as short term . I don't have to stay with the company for this transition if it were to occur, more concerned with long term options as far as the skills I will develop. Feel free to PM me if you are able to offer more personal advice/give more detail or would like to know more about my situation.
Doesn't (generally) matter about flat price at those types of places as you will mostly trade spreads; if you're much good you'll probably make enough before oil going out of fashion becomes an issue ;)
Thanks I figured that would be the case. Say I want to keep trading just because I like it, do you think I would be able to re-brand myself in order to fit with another product?
Yes within physical commodities people can and will switch commodities. The scheme within BP/Shell is pretty wide ranging itself, and (someone correct me if I am wrong) doesn't guarantee you a trading position, if you do make it to a trading position it could be anything from biofuels to ethanol to oil to some kind of gas etc. Beyond this I have seen people move from Ags to Energys and vice-versa in my first year in the physical commodities industry.
As far as programmes go BP/Shell feed really well into Glencore/Trafi/Vitol/Gunvor etc, its considered a fantastic place to build a career, so congrats on the offer!
hey.. congrats on the offer.
You might want to remove the BP reference at the end unless its intentional.
If it is the BP TDP program, i have heard nothing but great stuff about it. It seems that they train you really well and you get lots of options/exit points down the road if you ever feel like transitioning.
*This is what i heard tho. Not too sure since i haven't work inside.
cheers
Oil will remain relevant long enough for you to have a very solid career. If in 20-30 years the market starts to shrink drastically, you will hopefully have enough money and experience to build a business around whatever replaces it.
Switching commodities in the physical world is a lot like starting from scratch as far as the people you know so that transition could be quite difficult later in your career unless say you want to go from bioethanol to corn or something like that.
Still, I'd say go for it, you're at the perfect starting point for an extremely lucrative career and you should have plenty of options left open later in your career so long as you're good. And if you're not killing it at this first place, transitioning to another commodity earlier in your career shouldn't be overly difficult.
At any oil major with a trade floor (Shell, BP, Phillips 66, Chevron, etc.) its fairly common for experienced traders to switch commodities or products.
It's more uncommon within Power and Gas because those are very fungible products and don't have a lot of the operational similarities of liquids.
That said, it's also very uncommon to switch products when you move to a trade shop like Glencore, Trafi or Vitol. This is mostly cause those traders don't have a backstop like the majors provide their traders, so if a Vitol Crude Trader wanted to trade Gasoline, he/she would have to risk losing money in order to learn the business. Whereas at a Major if a Crude trader wanted to trade gasoline they would try to rotate to a gasoline book that was already built out on the floor if it was open.
If BP - accept and PASS THE EXAM. if Shell - accept and look for more roles...
BP > Shell > P66 > Chevron
bp and shell are still probably the top places these days, but any idea on how Chevron has developed over the years?
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