NEW YORK: A flurry of departures across the US and Canadian units of Chinese state energy firm PetroChina have sparked speculation that the oil trader is reducing its presence in North America, even though the company says it is committed to the region.
More than 30 people in its Houston and Calgary offices have left PetroChina since 2016, including heads of desks in crude, financial, natural gas and chemical trading, the company confirmed to Reuters. Sources say that PetroChina had approximately 150 to 200 people at its peak two to three years ago, and now has between 100 and 150.
Nearly a dozen sources in New York, Calgary, Houston and Singapore, including current and former employees, told Reuters the departures suggest a shift in mindset among firm management, and there are concerns about a broad pullback from its presence in North America.
The sources interviewed, which also includes several who do business with the firm, said North American offices may have expanded too quickly.
Mark Jensen, spokesman for PetroChina International America, said the company is committed to business throughout the Americas. He previously said the company and its subsidiaries have restructured the organization where necessary over the last several months, and that the departures do not represent a change in strategy in the region.
A Beijing-based company executive, who has direct knowledge of the firm’s global operations, said “poor performances or missing profit targets” was the main reason behind the staff departures.
The official, who asked not to be named as he not authorized to speak to the press, said there will be some restructuring in some of the business divisions, particularly natural gas.
“The company believes natural gas shall have good potential to expand, both in terms of scale and profit targets,” he said.
The restructuring could start after Petrochina’s new chairman, an fuel marketing veteran who took over the top job last April, tours North American offices, likely later this year, added the source.
In the last several years, PetroChina built itself into one of the largest oil traders in North America, hiring top talent with the goal to compete with trading giants Vitol, Trafigura and Mercuria Energy Group, industry participants said.
The departures have been notable ones, including John Mee, director of financial crude trading; Jie Wang, president in Calgary; and Eric Dixon, domestic head of physical crude onshore, among others.
The company has also lost a number of key staff in other departments, including in legal and accounting. One source said that the company is not currently looking to replace the majority of those positions.
Sources interviewed said management’s mindset over the last year has shifted toward tightening credit limits and shifting away from sources of activity common among oil traders operating in North America.
For instance, PetroChina appears to be shifting away from trading volumes on pipelines — which accounts for the lion’s share of crude trading in the United States — and favoring more vessel-based cargo trading, two sources familiar with PetroChina said.
In Houston, there are no longer any proprietary traders, according to two of the sources Reuters interviewed. The company did not respond to a specific request for comment regarding the shift to waterborne trading or proprietary trading.
The departures come after major losses in commodities markets in the first half of 2017, as hedge funds and banks saw some of their worst results in years due to a lack of overall volatility and an unexpected sell-off in crude.
The firm has gotten rid of individual bonuses and is now using a team bonus plan across Canada, the United States and China, according to two of the sources spoken to by Reuters. The company did not respond to a request for comment on this.
PetroChina is not set for a full retreat from the region, sources say. The company has certain commitments in the region, including a long-term contract on Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Zydeco pipeline through 2019. In addition, PetroChina’s parent, China National Petroleum Corp, will need to keep its options open to import US crude oil, sources said.
— REUTERS
North American exodus at PetroChina sparks speculation of company shift
North American exodus at PetroChina sparks speculation of company shift
Fitch maintains neutral outlook on GCC corporates
RIYADH: Gulf Cooperation Council corporates are expected to see largely stable conditions in 2026 as government-led investment supports earnings, offsetting pressure from lower oil prices and tighter funding conditions, according to a new analysis.
In a report published this week, Fitch Ratings said sustained public-sector capital expenditure — particularly in infrastructure and energy — will continue to underpin regional corporate performance, even as lower oil-price assumptions are likely to constrain public- and private-sector budgets.
This comes as GCC economies are forecast to grow 4.4 percent in 2026 and 4.6 percent in 2027, driven by stronger non-hydrocarbon activity and rising hydrocarbon output, the World Bank said.
In its Global Economic Prospects report released earlier this month, the World Bank said non-oil sectors, which account for more than 60 percent of GCC GDP, are expected to be supported by large-scale investment across the region.
Samer Haydar, Fitch’s head of GCC corporates, said: “We expect sustained public-sector capex to support steady earnings for GCC Corporates in 2026, especially in infrastructure and energy, even as lower oil price assumptions constrain fiscal flexibility.”
He added: “Sub-investment-grade credits will face low leverage headroom and increased interest-rate sensitivities.”
Fitch expects non-energy sectors to keep benefiting from state-backed investment programs — especially in Saudi Arabia and the UAE — while projecting GCC non-oil GDP growth of 3.7 percent in 2026, a moderation from 4.2 percent previously.
The agency also said regulatory reforms tied to diversification are supporting initial public offering activity, with a “robust” pipeline into 2026 supported by policy measures and deep local markets.
Credit profiles remain largely stable, with Fitch noting that about 95 percent of rated GCC issuers carry Stable Outlooks, and eight upgrades were recorded during 2025, partly linked to sovereign rating actions.
Ratings across Fitch’s GCC corporate universe span from “AA” to “B”, with government-related entities tending to be larger; Fitch said GREs represented about half of its rated GCC corporates in 2025.
On balance-sheet metrics, Fitch expects leverage to be modestly higher in 2026, with average leverage at 2.4 times before easing to 2.3x in 2027.
While strong 2025 earnings provided headroom for sectors including oil and gas, real estate, utilities and telecoms, the agency said industrials, retail and homebuilders typically operate with tighter leverage capacity, leaving less cushion amid still-elevated input and operating costs.
Funding conditions are expected to remain a key differentiator, Fitch said, adding that GCC issuers pushed their “maturity wall” out to 2028, helped by 2025 bond and sukuk issuance — particularly from UAE and Saudi Arabia-based issuers refinancing maturities early.
The agency estimates aggregate corporate fixed-income maturities for UAE and Saudi Arabia-based entities at about $50 billion over the next five years, and said persistently higher funding costs are likely to weigh more on high-yield issuers with sizable near-term maturities than on investment-grade peers.
Fitch also flagged rising capex as a near-term cash-flow constraint. It expects capex intensity to increase in 2026, keeping free cash flow subdued for most GCC corporates, after negative free cash flow peaked in 2025 due to the timing and scale of investment programs.
Highly rated issuers are increasingly using asset-light approaches — such as joint ventures — to reduce upfront spending, while others may rely on hybrid instruments, equity increases, or asset disposals to manage funding pressures.
Macro assumptions remain closely tied to the oil backdrop. Fitch forecasts Brent crude will average $63 per barrel in 2026, down from $70 per barrel in 2025, as supply growth — particularly from the Americas — outpaces demand.
Prices are expected to remain above fiscal breakevens for most GCC producers, though Fitch highlighted exceptions including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, with Oman only marginally below breakeven.
Across sectors, Fitch expects GCC property earnings to be underpinned by regional economic expansion and projected average occupancy above 90 percent in 2026, broadly in line with 2025.
It also pointed to a new Saudi regulatory provision freezing annual rent increases for five years across residential, commercial, and land leases, which it expects to limit landlords’ ability to pass on base rent increases.
For homebuilders, Fitch expects higher working-capital needs as pre-sales payment plans in prime Dubai locations ease toward 50 percent in 2026 from a peak of 70 percent, while projecting earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization margins around 26.8 percent for most UAE-based homebuilders and gross leverage averaging about 2 times.
Fitch highlighted three key risks to monitor in 2026: potential regional escalation around the Red Sea that could disrupt supply chains and raw material costs; a widening scope of rescaling mega projects in Saudi Arabia; and funding costs staying higher than expected, which could curb access to debt capital markets for non-GRE issuers.
