Sources say that RPT-Gunvor is weighing the US energy push, which could strengthen Washington ties.
Sources familiar with the situation said that Gunvor, a commodity trader, has been in active discussions to invest into U.S. oil and gas producing assets. This could help to repair relations with the Trump Administration after the fallout of Gunvor's attempt to purchase the foreign assets of the sanctioned Russian company Lukoil.
Gunvor dropped its offer to purchase Lukoil assets after the U.S. Treasury strongly opposed the move and called the trading firm a "Kremlin puppet."
Gunvor was interested in increasing its U.S. investment even before the failed Lukoil bidding, but such a move would now help it improve relations with President Donald Trump's administration, which is making it a priority to attract more investors in the country’s energy industry.
Sources said that Gary Pedersen leads Gunvor Americas, which has discussed providing financial support to existing producers in order to expand their reach.
Sources who asked to remain anonymous in order to discuss confidential data warned that an agreement was not guaranteed.
The White House has not responded to a comment request.
Gunvor declined specific comments but stated in an email: "The U.S. Market remains a major growth area and We look forward to substantial investments across the energy chain."
Gunvor has invested in U.S. energy and trading infrastructure since 2012. Its portfolio has a value of over $4 billion.
Recent efforts focus on natural gas
One source said that Gunvor's potential U.S. investment is likely to be focused more on natural gas rather than oil.
Sources said that Gunvor was recently involved in bidding on assets owned by Baytex Energy located in the Eagle Ford Shale Basin of South Texas. Gunvor offered a financial guarantee as a backstop to a bid from Houston-based Percussion Petroleum.
Baytex announced earlier this month that it had sold the Eagle Ford assets for $2.31 Billion to an unnamed buyer. Percussion failed to win the bid, according separate sources with knowledge of the matter.
Percussion has not responded to a comment request. Baytex declined comment.
Gunvor has not previously disclosed its interest in making additional U.S. shale investment, or its involvement with Percussion’s bid.
TRADERS BUILDING A PORTFOLIO FOR ENERGY PRODUCTION
Gunvor stated in its 2024 annual report that it began upstream natural-gas production in the United States, but did not provide any details. Later media reports said that the company had acquired a minority 42% stake in Oklahoma-based Flywheel Energy.
In recent years, rival commodities traders also invested money in U.S. production of oil and gas. They used record profits to increase their control over the supply chains of products they trade.
Vitol, a leading global trading company, has pledged to invest $1 billion in VTX Energy Partners by 2022. This comes after Vencer Energy was launched in 2020, Vitol's first U.S. shale project.
Citadel, a hedge fund, has been active in acquiring assets that produce natural gas this year.
The shale oil industry in the U.S. has seen a slowdown in recent months due to falling oil prices. However, natural gas has been an occasional bright spot.
Analysts expect oil prices to continue to be under pressure in the coming year, as supply growth continues to outpace demand. However, analysts are more optimistic about natural gas prices for the United States due to a belief that data centers will increase demand and that new liquefied gas plants in the U.S. will also boost it. (Reporting from Shariq Khan in New York and David French; editing by Edmund Klamann).
(source: Reuters)
