SINOPEC Corp. has appointed Chen Gang, acting president of its trading arm Unipec, as the new managing director of the unit, sources with knowledge of the matter said.

He replaces former president Chen Bo, who was suspended in 2018 after Unipec incurred record derivatives trading losses that are the subject of an investigation.

Under the role of managing director, Chen Gang will be head of the trading arm, formally known as China International United Petroleum & Chemical Co. and which turns over the equivalent of about 8 million barrels of oil per day — on a par with the likes of top independent energy trader Vitol.

Chen Gang has also been appointed as Unipec’s Party secretary, the sources said. The management changes were announced internally in March, but haven’t been previously reported, they said.

Chen Gang was made acting president in late 2018. Unipec recorded 3.13 billion yuan (US$441 million) in profit in 2019, according to Sinopec’s annual report. It reported 4 billion yuan in losses in 2018 after the trading losses.

Sinopec, Asia’s top refiner and largest crude oil buyer, has now officially discharged Chen Bo, but he remains a Sinopec employee, one of the sources said. Chen Bo did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment.

Unipec’s former Party secretary Zhan Qi, who was also suspended alongside Chen Bo in 2018, has also been officially discharged, the source said.

China’s State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) is due to wrap up an investigation into the 2018 trading losses, one of China’s largest derivatives debacles in nearly a decade.

The investigation will reach a conclusion next month, said one source.(SD-Agencies)