Star Vitol Oil Trader Yaoyao Liu to Depart After Wrong-Way Iran War Bet

Yaoyao Liu, a widely followed star oil trader at Vitol, the world's largest commodity trading house, is set to leave the firm after making a costly wrong-way bet at the start of the Iran war, according to people familiar with the matter cited by the Wall Street Journal. Liu found himself deep in the hole on the position, which stands as a rare misstep for a trader who had built a strong reputation in the oil markets.

The loss is part of a broader episode for Vitol's derivatives team. The firm had already reorganized its London derivatives operation weeks after incurring significant mark-to-market losses in the early days of the Iran war, though Vitol reported a first-quarter profit of roughly $2 billion overall, signaling the damage was contained to specific trading books rather than the firm as a whole.