Rapidly growing US unit of Chinese state energy giant PetroChina expands into financial natural gas trading with new hire

The US energy trading arm of Beijing-based oil and gas giant PetroChina has stepped up its presence in natural gas derivatives by hiring an experienced natural gas options trader who until recently had worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML).

Brad Banky joined PetroChina in late February as a senior financial trader in its Houston office, he told Energy Risk in an emailed statement. "PetroChina's expanding presence in North American natural gas has created a need for financial trading to complement its growing physical footprint," Banky says.

Banky lost his job at BAML in January, along with two other Houston-based natural gas traders at the bank. Wall Street banks have been pulling back from power and gas in recent months amid increased pressure from new regulations and stagnant or declining revenues from their commodities desks. Many top traders from banks have landed new jobs with merchant trading firms or other physical players.

In his new role, Banky will report to Keo Lukefahr, Houston-based general manager of natural gas at PetroChina. To date, most of the traders in PetroChina's growing Houston-based operation have focused on crude oil and refined products, rather than natural gas.

Separately, Michael Berry joined PetroChina in February to head its regulatory compliance function, according to the company. Berry, who had previously worked as a consultant advising energy trading firms on the US Dodd-Frank Act, is a former head of compliance for BP North America.

PetroChina, the world's second-largest energy firm in terms of market capitalisation, has been rapidly building out its US trading operation. Last year, PetroChina relocated the headquarters of its local subsidiary from New Jersey to Houston. The subsidiary expects to have a total of 140 employees by 2016, said president Li Shaolin in an interview with the China Daily last November.