Energy trader Gunvor is rebranding and moving its headquarters to Singapore

International energy trader Gunvor will change its name to Centalion and will also transfer its legal registration from Cyprus to Singapore, where the company has been present since 2006. Interfax reports this with reference to its press release.

The rebranding was undertaken by the new business owners, who bought out the share of Gunvor co-founder Torbjörn Tornqvist and the company's managers, intending to reflect its development "within the framework of a new ownership structure, management model and strategic vision for the future."

The current Centalion, which has been wholly owned by its employees since late last year, is one of the world's largest traders of oil and petroleum products, as well as an important player in the liquefied natural gas market. The deal and Törnqvist's departure as Gunvor's chief executive came shortly after the company became a failed buyer of the foreign assets of the Russian oil company Lukoil, which fell under US sanctions.

First, Lukoil announced that it had reached an agreement with Gunvor regarding the complete sale of the assets of its subsidiary Lukoil International GmbH, and then the US Treasury promised that the oil trader “will not receive a license to make a profit” because of its alleged ties to Moscow. After this, Gunvor, calling the statement of the American ministry fundamentally “incorrect and false,” withdrew the offer to purchase the assets.