Yaoyao Liu، whose oil derivatives trading generated billions for Vitol Group, is departing the commodities giant after a 14-year career marked by dramatic gains and losses. Liu, 39, stepped back from day-to-day trading mid-year, with sources indicating retirement planning began in 2025 prior to recent trading turmoil. His team faced significant losses in consecutive years, including hundreds of millions in downturns, though they recovered most losses before being caught on the wrong side of surging prices following US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Despite controversy over mark-to-market losses, Liu’s legacy includes a legendary status in commodity trading for his bold bets and risk-taking acumen. His most profitable period came in 2022 during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when his team reportedly made over $1 billion in profit for Vitol. Born in 1986 in Cambridge to parents from China’s Hubei province, Liu studied chemical engineering at Trinity College before joining Goldman Sachs in London and moving to Vitol in 2012.
Vitol, an employee-owned energy giant focused on trading, storing, and transporting natural resources, also engages in speculative derivatives trading. Liu benefited from the firm’s scale, supply-demand insights, and capital access, enabling large positions across physical and financial markets. His departure was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, with both Vitol and Liu declining to comment.
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