hi im a rising sophmore and i've been quite interested in physical commodity trading as of late. Assuming you start at BP TDP in a rotational program and become a trader, at what stage do you choose what commodity you wish to trade?
BP TDP (2/3 years) -> BP operations (3 years)? ----- all of which is probably oil since this BP
-> apply to vitol/glen/traf in commodity of choice?
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In your BP example you don't get to pick. Could end up being crude, products, nat gas, etc. You would be pushed towards whatever group had openings and they felt like you could contribute from what I understand.
Can you even apply to Vitol? Last I checked they don't post anything online.
you dont pick and you also dont really apply to a trading house.. they kind of find you
Depending on the location, BP will tend to steer you towards a specific commodity.
An O&G to metals transition is pretty uncommon. Not that it couldn't happen given a lot of principles are the same, but very little overlap in terms of relationships.
Pardon my ignorance,
in the BP TDP, if you are rotated in scheduling, operations, etc. is that all for one commodity type? like 3 years of crude oil sched/ops OR 3 years of nat gas sched/ops OR 3 years of metals/minerals sched/ops? If that's the case, do you get a say in choosing what commodity type?
ignore title, im op
BP isn't trading in any metals markets that I am aware of. I think their power/gas and their oil/lng programs might be separate, maybe not. I don't know for sure but I think you do rotations across a few departments/commodities and then get placed where you clicked best. When I say different commodities I mean different parts of the barrel or LNG. Could be the rotation involves power and gas too. That's honestly as much exposure across commodities at a physical trader you will ever get although where you end up still comes down a lot to luck.
if I ultimately want to trade metals, is the BP TDP still a good stepping stone?
Probably not. If you want to trade metals, try to network with people in the industry, including at smaller shops. Scrap in particular is still the wild west and very fragmented. Not quite “trading” but the big producers are also good places to start.
Considering what people in your average BP oil seat make, you would have to really hate the job to want to go to metals. And the jobs are pretty similar so no guarantee you would like metals more.
In the short to medium term you will make more money at BP than at Glencore/Trafi/IXM/Concord/Mercuria/etc in metals, no question. Could a 30+ year career in metals end up being more interesting given energy transitions? Maybe, but that will involve so much more being at the right place and the right time.
Oil is such a huge market, the margins in absolute terms absolutely dwarf metals and pay a lot more people handsomely. Don’t read too much into the Glencore IPO when it comes to metals.
3 years are normally 3 seats in 3 benches (oil across the barrel, LNG... bp doesn't have metals trading)
You write this as if you had the pick of the litter as far as opportunities go. You’re still in school, stop obsessing over which product to focus on-truth is you know 0 about any of them so cast your net wide. Apply everywhere and then make a decision wrt product if thats even a choice you will get to make.
Depends on your favorite state of matter tbh
As mentioned BP oil and gas/power are usually separate paths. In general you do not get your choice unless network and end up directly on a desk.
confirmed w/ my BP guy
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