Banks find physical barriers

摘要

An Argus survey of 16 major investment banks shows that less than half are active participants in the physical oil market. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Citi have directly or indirectly traded oil cargoes for at least a decade, but the four others that buy and sell physical oil only started in the past four years, as soaring prices raised the appeal of energy trading. Other large banks such as Bank of America say they have no plans to enter the business (see table).Physical oil trading is not cheap. Most banks now active in the cargo markets gained access to storage and transport infrastructure through costly acquisitions. And setting up teams to run operations and establish a client base is difficult. Some banks, including Morgan Stanley, took advantage of the collapse of US energy trading firms such as Enron in 2001 to hire physical oil traders. More recently, other banks have been willing to pay to acquire expertise.