There has recently been a job posting at my school for a "Commercial Analyst" internship at BP. The job descrption reads:
As an intern you will be exposed to the operations of an aggressive, growing energy marketing firm with a strong North American focus. You will meet the marketers and traders and will be involved in projects geared to support their business. You will have an opportunity to learn about our business while leveraging your knowledge providing market and competitor analysis, support for deal negotiations, and preparation of customer newsletters. In addition you will participate in BP sponsored training and development.
1) While the work detail doesn't seem all that intriguing, could this job potentially lead to a full time energy trading position?
2) Is it true that BP doesn't allow employees to trade without 3 years experience?
3) I have read that many traders start at energy companies prior to joining BBs, and since I wasn't able to obtain an internship at a bank is this worth considering?
4) Other than compensation, how does trading at energy companies compare to (energy) trading at a bank?
I'd be interested to hear a little about this too.
ok guys, i'll tell what I've learned at the BP recruiting event.
1) For incoming analysts, there are two paths: commercial and trader. If you want to trade, you have to go on the trader path.
2) Well, if you are on the trader path, you have to work for 3 years. At the end of 3 years, you go through a 1-week long trading examination thats about 10 hours a day. If you pass, you become a trader. If you fail, you are invited to other opportunities at BP depending on your past performance. No retakes for this exam.
3) This is definitely true. Many of the energy traders at BBs start out at commodity firms such BP or Enron.
I can't answer #4.
Thanks for the info aachimp. Just a few more questions then:
What does the "Commercial path" entail? Anyone know how the compensation is in the commercial program? Lastly, since this is an internship, do you think I could possibly transfer to the "trading stream" once hired? The business unit is relatively small so I will be able to meet and work with everyone on the team including all of the traders and management.
I googled it but came up with no meaningful answers and I don't have access to the vault. Thanks again
I'm not sure, but if you want, send me a pm and I'll give you the contact info for their recruiter.
friend of mine is head of power and the program is good. They dont pay much but solid work exp. compared to training programs at BB...
They started at energy companies because BB did not really start throwing money at energy until like 2004-2005.... JAron and ML had shops but now every BB has a shop. I work in one of them.
Most of my coworkers come from Duke Energy, El Paso, Enron, BP, Coastal, Calpine...
No retakes for the exam? That sucks. If you fail, it's like 3 years of your life wasted.
Also, what do you mean you weren't able to obtain an internship at a bank? Summer recruiting hasn't even ended yet.
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