John Addison, head of refined products in the Americas for Vitol, will retire on Tuesday, according to sources.
Jean-Marc Monrad, Mr. Addison’s deputy, will take over as head of products for the Americas, according to a source.
Mr. Addison will focus on policy and energy policy, according to a source.
John Addison, Vitol’s top gasoline trader in the United States, is considering retiring from the world’s largest commodities trading house after helping the company secure a deal for the first Venezuelan oil exports following the capture of leader Nicolas Maduro by US forces, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
Addison, 47, is well-known by rivals and colleagues for his success as a gasoline trader and has been part of Vitol’s American leadership team since 2012. An internal Vitol memo about his retirement, seen by Reuters, describes him as “one of the most successful traders in the company’s history.”*
He is expected to be succeeded by his deputy in the refined products office, gasoline trader Jean-Marc Monrad, one of the sources said.
Sources requested anonymity to discuss confidential details.
Addison declined to comment, and Vitol said it would not make any comment on personnel matters. Monrad did not immediately respond to a message on LinkedIn.
In January, Mr. Addison negotiated with both the American and Venezuelan governments to clear a backlog of several billion barrels of crude oil accumulated by state-backed Venezuelan oil company PDVSA during the US naval blockade of the country.
Vitol and its rival Trafigura were the first companies approached by the American government to market the oil. Subsequently, the US government issued a general license to all interested companies for the export of Venezuelan oil.
Vitol has sold over a billion dollars worth of Venezuelan oil to refiners in the United States, Europe, and Asia, with billions more of Venezuelan oil still to sell, according to sources.
Vitol’s revenue – a measure of volume – was $343 billion last year, representing a 3.6% increase from 2024.
HE JOINED VITOL IN 2009
A native of Hoover, Alabama, Addison began his career at Enron in June 2001, just before the energy company’s infamous collapse. He joined European major Shell in 2002, then Glencore in 2005.
Mr. Addison joined Vitol in 2009, where he led trading of refined products in the Americas. Since joining the leadership team, he has been the highest-ranking gasoline trader in the United States. The company made hundreds of millions of dollars in profits on gasoline under his leadership, three sources said.
His trading career saw him overseeing physical gasoline markets in the US – the world’s largest fuel consumer – as well as financial instruments for crude oil, diesel, and other parts of the energy market, according to a colleague and two rival traders.
He traded for Vitol in several market disruptions such as major hurricanes, freezing episodes, pipeline outages, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a number of military events, according to the internal note about his retirement.
HE PLANS TO FOCUS ON ENERGY POLICY
Mr. Addison intends to devote himself to policy and energy policy after his retirement, a source close to him said.
Mr. Addison has supported American Vice President JD Vance since he ran for the US Senate, and he also contributed to President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign in 2024.
Mr. Addison is a benefactor of Vanderbilt University, his alma mater, to which he and his wife Shannon donated $30 million last year.
