It is a measure of the rapid ascension of London-based Oil Brokerage in the world of tanker shipping.
Less than two years after announcing in TradeWinds his intention to expand in tanker brokerage from the oil sector, Oil Brokerage boss James McNicol attended his first Posidonia over the weekend.
Typically, he did it in a big way, as the company hosted a crowd of hundreds at the posh One & Only Aesthesis resort in Voula amid an array of costumed dancers and performance artists.
But Oil Brokerage is not content to stop with a Posidonia party. McNicol likes Athens so much that he told TradeWinds in an interview that it will open shop in Greece this year.
“We’re moving directionally toward expanding our presence in S&P and projects, so launching an office in Athens this year will be an important step toward those goals,” he said.
The Greek outpost will stand beside existing offices in London, Singapore, Dubai, Houston and Geneva, where operations are set to begin within a month.
As TradeWinds has reported, Oil Brokerage has moved aggressively to poach brokers from rival firms in several locations.
In the most recent report last November, the newcomer hired three brokers from the Geneva office of Fearnleys.
That came less than one month after Oil Brokerage completed a long-mooted advance on the US market, hiring away six crude brokers from privately owned house McQuilling Partners, which is headquartered on Long Island in New York.
McNicol and Nick Mahoney, head of shipbroking, said both offices are rounding into shape nicely.
The goal is to push Geneva’s current staff of four brokers to 10 by year’s end.
“And there’s room in that office for 30,” Mahoney said.
The Houston office, staffed largely by the McQuilling departures, is now up to 10, including eight brokers.
Oil Brokerage is rumoured to be pursuing some name hires in areas that include an expanded presence in Asia, but McNicol would not be drawn on details yet.
