Commodities trader Mercuria to form joint venture with Italian major Eni

By Robert Harvey

LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) - Swiss-based commodities trading house Mercuria and Italian oil and gas major Eni have agreed to set up a joint venture, the companies said on Wednesday, reflecting a trend for trading partnerships to capitalise on volatile markets.

The 50:50 joint venture will be operated from headquarters in Geneva and will trade crude oil, refined fuels, biofuels, gas, liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, Mercuria said in a statement.

Mercuria linked the venture with Eni with its strategy of seeking partnerships that expand market access and deepen its integration with physical markets. 

Eni aims to increase its trading footprint with the joint venture, and generate long-term value through operational efficiency and robust risk management, its director of global trading, Stefano Pujatti, said in a statement.  

Eni also said it aims to accelerate cash flow generation from increased trading and enhance its asset management through the venture. 

Mercuria's Chief Executive Officer Marco Dunand in the statement said the integration of physical energy flows, logistics and risk management capabilities would enable the venture to maximise value across the supply chain. 

The agreement is Mercuria's second joint venture this year as it signed a deal in February to launch a trading unit with Indian trading group Tata International.

The increase in volatility on international energy markets caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and by this year's Iran war has made trading energy rather than just producing it central to oil companies' profits.

Eni already has a 20% stake in the UAE's ADNOC Global Trading, alongside co-owners ADNOC and Austrian major OMV. 

French oil major TotalEnergies this year agreed a deal to create a Middle East trading venture with Bahrain's BAPCO.

Mercuria made a net profit of $1.43 billion in 2025, Chief Financial Officer Guillaume Vermersch told Reuters, from $1.52 billion in 2024 and a record of $3 billion in 2022.

(Reporting by Robert Harvey and Giulia Segreti; editing by Barbara Lewis)