Glencore booked USD 2.66 billion in first-half adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) from trading on Wednesday (August 5), up from just USD 40 million a year earlier.

With this, the commodity major joined the trading desks of European oil majors BP, Shell, TotalEnergies and rival trading house Trafigura in reaping billions in profits this year.

Crude, fuel and LNG prices hit all-time record or ‌multi-year ⁠highs earlier 2026 as the Iran war halted tanker traffic leaving the Gulf, with strategically important chokehold Strait of Hormuz becoming the biggest geopolitical leverage for Tehran and Washington.

“The Oil and Gas department was the primary contributor, which benefited from significant dislocations across LNG, oil and shipping markets,” Glencore CEO ⁠Gary Nagle said.

Glencore’s first-half results put it on track to rebound from three straight years of lower earnings from energy marketing. The trading volumes surged to around ⁠5.2 million barrels per day of crude and fuels, about 24% more than its 2025 average.

For the H2, Glencore said that significant inventory drawdowns had left oil markets increasingly sensitive to disruptions.

Glencore is also moving ahead with its planned secondary listing in Australia, a move, that as per the company, signals a push to tap one of the world’s fastest-growing pools of institutional capital to fund its copper growth ambitions and potentially pave the way for transformational M&A.

As per Nagle, Glencore can achieve inclusion in Australia’s benchmark ASX 200 index within 12 months, requiring about AUSD 1.5 billion of market capitalisation, before qualifying for the larger ASX 100 index, which requires roughly AUSD 5.5 billion of shares trading on the Trans-Tasman country’s market.

The CEO said investors had shown strong interest in an Australian listing, particularly after Glencore’s failed merger talks with Rio Tinto earlier this year.

“There have been requests from many investors to meet with us after some of the discussions that had happened about Rio,” he told reporters, While talking about his visit to Australia in March and April, that reportedly generated strong interest from large pension funds.

Australia’s biggest pension fund, ⁠AustralianSuper, said in May that a Glencore ASX listing would be “positive” for both the exchange and the company.

Nagle also said existing Australian shareholders faced limits on how much they could invest overseas, with a local listing potentially unlocking access to more capital.

While Nagle said that Glencore’s focus would be on organic copper growth, an ASX presence could smooth the path for future Australian deals by increasing the commodity giant’s visibility among local investors, aligning its shareholder base, in the process, more closely with Rio Tinto’s.

“Glencore is looking at an Australian listing to access mining-friendly investors, or perhaps at least make their name more well known if Rio Tinto and Glencore decide to have a go again at merging,” RBC Capital Markets analysts said.

Nagle told the media that a secondary listing in Australia would make no difference to any potential merger with Rio.

For the ASX, landing an USD 87 billion global miner and commodities trader in the form of Glencore would be a massive development, adding a big ⁠name to a resources sector that has lost players through consolidation. Realising the opportunity’s potential, ASX has already expressed its “delight” in Glencore choosing the Trans-Tasman country for market listing.

Glencore plans to increase copper production to about 1.6 million metric tons by 2035 from 810,000 to 870,000 tons expected in 2026, requiring substantial capital investment.

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The Russian invasion of Ukraine disrupted global crude flows in March, causing prices to soar. International benchmark Brent reached USD 139.13 per barrel, the highest level since 2008. The second half saw a sharp decline in prices as central banks raised interest rates and stoked recessionary fears.

On the last trading day of the year 2022, Brent crude finished at USD 85.91 per barrel, up over 3% to USD 2.45. US West Texas Intermediate crude increased USD 1.86 or 2.4% to settle at USD 80.26 per barrel.

After increasing by roughly 10% in 2021, Brent increased by 50% in 2022. Following a gain of 55% the previous year, US crude increased by roughly 7% in 2022. The year 2020 saw a substantial decline in both benchmarks as the COVID-19 pandemic reduced fuel usage.

Brazil’s Lula Decrees Extension For Tax Exemption On Fuels
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s recently sworn-in president, issued a decree extending for 60 days an exemption for fuels from federal taxes, a move passed by his predecessor with the intention of bringing down their cost.

The decree was one of Lula’s first actions as president, replacing far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and formally appointing his 37-person Cabinet, which he announced in the hours following his inauguration.

Fuel exempt from federal taxes will save the federal government 52.9 billion reais annually. Economy Minister Fernando Haddad had previously stated that it would not be extended, creating a division in the new Cabinet.

On the other hand, the new CEO of Brazil’s state-run oil corporation Petrobras announced that he intended to change the nation’s fuel price policy, but assured investors that they shouldn’t be concerned.

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Oil Minister Khaled Al Fadhel said Kuwait has cut its own production output by a percentage more than necessary to effectively achieve the objective. “The compliance of Kuwait was close to 160% last July, ” he told a local news agency. 

Crucially, in the current situation it is important to stop inventories from excess oil production resulting in falling prices. 

Despite excess production, oil prices increased slightly on Monday. This could be as a result of US-China trade war and anticipation that global suppliers would reduce production in crude, analysts said. International benchmark Brent Crude futures at $58.75 a barrel, an increase of 22 cents from the previous settlement. 

However, Al Fadhel said fears of global economic downturn largely impacting crude prices are ‘exaggerated’. That said, crude demand globally should pick up pace in the second half of the year, while simultaneously reducing excess in oil inventories. 

“What we have noticed recently is a different perception of risk in different geographies,” Emily Ashford, executive director of energy research at Standard Chartered said. “Often the price reactions during Asia or London trading are reversed during US trading. Prices seem to be following that pattern today.”

Opec, Russia and other non-Opec producers agreed to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day effective January 1 for six months. 

Analysts believe that more output reductions are required to support prices. This is mainly because several forecasters and governments predict a slowdown in oil demand growth and  global economy on the whole. 

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