Vitol

Vitol (pronounced Vee-Tol) is a Swiss-based Dutch multinational energy and commodity trading company that was founded in Rotterdam in 1966 by Henk Viëtor. Vitol has over 40 offices worldwide, with its largest operations in Geneva, Houston, London, and Singapore.

Vitol maintains secrecy around its business activities. The company, however, does provide some more financial information to its lenders and to a few other entities with which it trades. The company ships more than 350 million tonnes of crude oil per year and controls 250 supertankers and other vessels to move it around the world. On average it handles more than 7.3 million barrels a day of oil and products, roughly equivalent to the daily consumption of Japan, the world's fourth-largest oil consumer after the United States, China, and India.

Vitol is a privately held company by about 400 partners who are current and former employees, who are known for their intense culture of privacy and secrecy. It is reported that Vitol made a payout of $2.9 billion to all its partners in 2021, increasing to $6.4 billion in 2023 and $10.6 billion in 2024.

The company has been involved in multiple controversies related to corruption and bribery. The company bribed Serbian war criminal Arkan for oil contracts, was convicted of grand larceny for circumventing sanctions on Saddam Hussein's regime to buy Iraqi oil, and helped the Iranian regime bypass sanctions. Multiple Vitol oil traders have been convicted on bribery and corruption charges.