(Bloomberg) -- Mercuria Energy Group Ltd., a Swiss commodities trader built on buying and selling oil, is looking to acquire solar and wind power assets.

To further its ambitions, Geneva-based Mercuria hired Robert Lawson from BP Plc last year as its first head of mergers and acquisitions. The trading house is also looking to invest in low-carbon transport projects and in supply chains for the metals needed for the shift to cleaner energies, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Marco Dunand said in an interview in Dubai.

“The real bet we’re making is on the energy transition,” he said. “We are trying to anticipate what needs to be done and where the market needs liquidity and investments to speed up the process.” 

Wind and solar power will require massive investments to reach the scale necessary to displace more fossil fuels, offering Mercuria a way to hedge its exposure across a range of energies. Last year, it started a $2.2 billion venture to build 2 gigawatts of solar power, while it also bought into Natron Energy, a maker of sodium-ion batteries.

The push comes as Europe’s supermajors shift their focus back to fossil fuel production despite the implications for their pledges to reduce CO2 emissions.

Founded in 2004 by Dunand and two other ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc. traders, Mercuria originally made its name delivering Russian oil into eastern Europe. Now the company is shifting to cleaner energies, while continuing to invest in oil and gas assets. 

“We can become more involved in assets, maybe bigger scale,” Dunand said. “It’s not anymore just about the trade, about a different commodity, but the asset also is going be part of that transition.” 

A large portion of Mercuria’s trading profits still come from its core oil and gas businesses, and its investments reflect that. Last year, it became the largest shareholder of UK upstream company Serica Energy and took shale producer Phoenix Global Resources private. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions imposed by Western nations are set to increase prices and volatility, with trading companies helping to plug the shortfalls in fuels and commodities, according to Dunand. The energy outlook must also factor climate policies and government efforts to curb carbon emissions.

Acquiring assets is a way for Mercuria to manage risk over the next decade as rising demand, political pressures over climate change and historic underinvestment stress both markets and the traders operating in them. 

“We’re going to be in this very volatile environment for a while,” Dunand said.

Mercuria, which trades oil, gas, power and metals, will probably post another record profit for 2022, beating its earnings of $1.26 billion from the previous year, Dunand said.

Mercuria is also considering selling assets, if that’s a more profitable option. That includes a fuel-storage terminal at Fujairah, the oil trading hub in the United Arab Emirates, as increasing rates bolster the value of the business, the CEO said.

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