Glencore sees oil and gas trading volumes jump to six-year high in 2025

Glencore grew its oil and natural gas trading volumes to their highest since the coronavirus pandemic in 2025, but struggled to offset losses linked to falling prices, the company said Feb. 18, observing lasting challenges navigating a softer market environment.

The Switzerland-headquartered commodities trader achieved a total oil and gas trading result of 4.2 million barrels of oil equivalent/day in 2026, it said in its full-year earnings report, up 11% from the previous year. Volumes were split roughly evenly between crude oil, the company's most-traded energy product, and oil and gas products, which grew at a faster annual rate of 13%.

Speaking in an Feb. 18 earnings call, CEO Gary Nagle called it a "strong year" for the company's trading arm, noting that its $2.7 billion earnings result reflected strong growth in the second half of the year and remained within a full-year guideline of $2.2 billion to $3.2 billion.

However, the higher turnover was not sufficient to prevent "challenging energy market conditions" from dragging on trading results, the company said in its report. Despite a record contribution from metals and minerals, Glencore's marketing revenues dropped 6% before interest and tax, it reported, noting a 15% annual decline in Brent crude, among other core commodities.

Analysts said that the results avoided a worst-case scenario after a slump in the group's trading results in the first half of the year, when it flagged weaker macro sentiment and widespread tariff uncertainty as major challenges to its global business.

Matt Britzman, a senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Landsdown, said the results were "the strong second half that investors were looking for," noting that 50% growth in copper production in the second half of the year helped mitigate the effects of lower energy prices.

Across the entire company, including industrial activities and its core metals business, adjusted earnings, before interest, taxes and depreciation, fell by 6% to $13.5 billion.

"The main thrust of that came from the metal side of the business," Nagle told investors, noting favourable price movements and strong production in segments including copper and zinc.

In contrast, the company's report said "the overall energy complex remained generally well supplied," and noted that "macro uncertainty, trade tensions and expectations of excess supply," had made temporary oil price spikes short-lived.

Heading into 2026, Glencore emphasized plans to grow its energy trading business through expansions in LNG and carbon power, pledging to focus on its "diversified business across a range of commodities" and strong trading footprint.

Capital discipline

Nevertheless, the company has promised new spending cuts to streamline its operations after a series of recent acquisitions in the physical energy sector.

As part of a new "cost and efficiency drive," Glencore identified $1 billion of cost savings to be made over 2025-2026, and said it is on track to deliver on the target.

In the oil sector, it follows the high-profile acquisition of Shell's refinery and petrochemical assets in Singapore through its Chandra-Asri joint venture in 2025, providing it with a 20% non-controlling stake in a 237,000 b/d refinery and a 1.1 million metric ton/year ethylene cracker.

In the company's half-year earnings call in 2025, CFO Steven Kalmin called the $147 million deal a "big boost" for Glencore's Asian oil business, providing a sink for its crude trading and access to regular fuel offtake. The acquisition followed similar moves from rivals Trafigura and Vitol to dispend bumper earnings on acquiring refining stakes, picking up major European assets in France and Italy.

Additionally, Glencore has invested $278 million in South Africa's Astron refinery since it acquired the downstream business in 2019 and is committed to spending another $84 million by September 2027 as part of the conditions for the deal.

In the upstream oil segment, meanwhile, the company continued to report diminishing returns from its assets in Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon, where natural field decline has sharply reduced output in recent years. Across the two countries, Glencore's entitlement interest was 8,200 boe/d, down from 11,000 boe/d in 2024.