Ian R TAYLOR

Ian Taylor has over 30 years’ experience in the energy sector. He began his career with Shell in 1978 and worked in both South America and South East Asia before joining Vitol in 1985. At Vitol, he established the crude oil group and was Managing Director of Vitol Asia, prior to being appointed CEO in 1995.
Under his leadership, Vitol has grown to become the leading physical trader of energy in the world, with a turnover of $168 billion in 2015 and offices in over 40 countries worldwide. Today Vitol trades over 6 million barrels of crude oil and products a day, and its customers include national oil companies, multinationals, leading industrial and chemical companies, as well as the world’s largest airlines. Vitol has over 20 years’ experience in exploration and production (E&P) in Ghana. It is working with ENI, the World Bank and the Ghanaian government on the development of gas fields to power Ghana’s thermal power sector. This project will supply 15 years’ of gas to Ghana and will be the largest foreign direct investment in the country since independence.
More recently, Vitol has invested in a range of complementary, largely downstream, businesses. These include five refineries, energy infrastructure, such as terminals and storage, and Shell’s downstream businesses in Australia and 16 countries across Africa. In total Vitol is invested in almost 2,500 petrol stations globally. Mr. Taylor has an MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford.