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Vitol, Glencore and Trafigura feature in report by campaign group Global Witness

Three global oil trading companies with strong ties to the UK face being dragged into Brazil’s “Car Wash” investigation, after a report raised questions about their connections to businessmen named in the vast corruption scandal.

Vitol, Glencore and Trafigura, which boast combined annual revenues of more than half a trillion dollars, feature in a report by campaign groups Global Witness and Public Eye that uncovers links to men accused or convicted of involvement in the bribery scandal.

The Car Wash controversy has had seismic effects in Brazil, shaking the country’s institutions to the core and leading to the imprisonment of a president, as well some of the country’s most prominent business figures.

It involved executives from the state oil company, Petrobras, who were found to have pocketed kickbacks on multi-billion-dollar deals arranged by intermediaries – with some of the money routed to political parties.

Commodity giants under investigation as police examine Petrobas fuel trades

Commodity traders Glencore, Vitol and Trafigura are under investigation on suspicion of paying more than $15m (£11.7m) of bribes to the Brazilian state oil firm Petrobras, opening a fresh chapter in the Car Wash investigation that has rocked the country’s establishment.

Federal police in Brazil said they had been examining allegedly corrupt fuel trades involving Petrobras, the national oil company that has been at the centre of the Car Wash affair.

The investigation has already led to the imprisonment of one former president, as well as some of the country’s most prominent business figures.

Glencore, Vitol and Trafigura, all of which have strong ties to London, are the subject of the next phase of the Car Wash investigation, according to federal authorities in Brazil.

From Glencore to Eagle Pro: How Commodities Trading Prepared Me for Operations

By Pablo M. Rivera | East Haven, CT

Pablo M. Rivera's career started at Glencore Ltd. in Stamford, CT — one of the world's largest commodities trading firms — managing Latin American operations from 1999 to 2004. That first role after graduating from Yale established the operational discipline, international perspective, and high-stakes decision-making skills that have defined every subsequent position.

Commodities operations run on precision: supply chain timing, quality specifications, regulatory compliance, and financial risk management all happen simultaneously. Pablo M. Rivera managed all of these across Latin American markets where cultural fluency and bilingual communication were essential.

That foundation led through construction finance at Textron ($4B portfolio), entrepreneurship in Colorado ($10M construction company), mining in West Africa, and national maintenance operations — a career path that only makes sense if you understand that operations leadership is operations leadership, regardless of industry.