BP has put four traders responsible for Chinese crude oil sales on temporary leave as it conducts internal investigations into trades with Singapore’s Hontop Energy, four sources familiar with the matter said.
They were involved in crude trading and operations in Singapore and China and were put on leave last week, the sources said, while BP’s counterparties have been told to deal with another team for Chinese crude transactions.
BP declined to comment to Reuters.
BP traders were named in a court document filed by Malaysian lender CIMB where the bank applied to place Hontop Energy under judicial management.
BP has not been implicated in any wrongdoing in the court proceedings.
Hontop is the Singapore-based trading arm of independent refiner China Wanda Holding Group Co Ltd.
Commodity deals in Singapore are under increasing scrutiny following the collapse of scandal-hit traders like Zenrock and Hin Leong. Plunging crude prices and a bearish market have prompted lenders to tighten credit lines and call in their debts, bringing issues to the surface as more companies struggle to pay up.
