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Singapore-listed bunker supplier and fuel oil trader Chemoil Energy has appointed Jacob Gay as its new head of trading for Asia.

Gay, who has over 10 years of experience working for Shell, Arcadia Energy Trading and Projector, replaces Teng Chee Keong, who joined the company as a senior trader in 2008, having previously been employed at Middle East firm Bakri International Energy.

Speaking to Reuters regarding the departure of Teng, Chemoil's CEO Tom Reilly said: "The departure is a mutual strategic decision on both the company's and the employee's part. CK is leaving us on good terms and I have the highest respect for him and the work that he has done for us while he was here."

The appointment of Gay appears to represent a change in the Chemoil's strategy, which previously saw the company scale down its cargo trading activies in order to focus primarily on bunkering after commodities trader Glencore bought a controlling stake in the firm almost two years ago.

Since the takeover, Chemoil has gradually reduced its presence in the cargo trading market and even given up storage space at its own terminal. The company also decided not to replace three of the four fuel oil cargo traders who left during that period.

Commenting on Gay's appointment, Reilly said: "Our focus for Singapore would be to aggressively move beyond the current back-to-back ex-wharf trading model. It is for Jacob to assess if we should/can do cargo trading and be profitable on a sustained basis.

"His brief would also be to optimise our Fujairah position and leverage our storage capacities to see if we can grow further. The one thing that we can't continue to do is to be stuck with one business model."