Ian Roper Taylor

Mr. 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 MD of Vitol Asia, prior to being appointed group CEO in 1995. Mr. Taylor has an MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford and is currently Chair of the Royal Opera House.
Under his leadership, Vitol has grown to become the leading physical trader of energy, with a turnover of $152 billion and offices in circa 40 countries worldwide. Vitol trades over 7 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 oil and gas fields to power Ghana’s thermal power sector. This project will supply over 15 years’ of gas to Ghana, and access 500 million barrels of oil in place. It will be the largest foreign direct investment in the country since independence.
Vitol is also investing in a range of complementary, largely downstream, businesses. These include five refineries, energy infrastructure, such as terminals and storage, and retail and distribution businesses comprising circa 5,000 service stations across Africa, Australia, North West Europe and Eurasia.