Energy Trader (North America)

NOC #11103

  • Environment Primarily indoor/office work
  • Education Post-secondary degree
  • Average salary $84,000 to $163,000

Career profile

Energy traders play a pivotal role in optimizing a company’s financial returns through the strategic purchase and sale of both physical and financial energy products. Their responsibilities include a comprehensive understanding of energy markets, including current supply and demand dynamics, logistics, and quality differentials, all while factoring in external variables such as weather patterns and the political environment. This knowledge is harnessed to manage storage volumes effectively and to pinpoint opportunities to take advantage of market prices.

Energy traders work closely with the company’s energy marketing departments to provide crucial hedging strategies and execute production strategies that fit within market dynamics.

They must be able to rapidly assess and respond to a multitude of influencing factors, to allow for swift, well-informed decisions that optimize pricing and profitability for the organization. They employ robust data analysis techniques and advanced software programs to identify market trends, gaps, logistical shortfalls, weather data and policy decisions to forecast and interpret energy price movement and guide trading strategies.

Pipelines, Oil sands

In this occupation activities may include:

  • Analyzing current supply and demand, logistics and other factors. Applying this information to manage storage volumes to take advantage of market opportunities
  • Providing daily quantitative and fundamental analysis of gas markets, locations, transport, storage, weather, etc.
  • Formulating and/or validating daily forward curves for applicable markets and load curves
  • Evaluating and monitoring all trading activity and communications
  • Generating incremental revenues via various strategies including transport optimization, cross-commodity, cross-market, time-spread strategies

Education

  • This occupation requires an undergraduate degree. Most traders have a finance, business, economics or mathematics background. Energy Traders typically need five years’ experience in financial trading, analytics and supply chain logistics/pipeline schedulers. Experience in these areas is critical to being able to identify financial opportunities. The ability to quickly assess all information, foresee financial opportunities and be willing to make decisions are critical to success in this role.

Certifications

  • Specific health and safety certifications will be determined by job requirements
  • While there is no industry standard certification for this occupation, working towards a CFA or related Master’s degree may be considered desirable by some employers

Additional Requirements

  • Typically, five years of industry experience in supply chain logistics, analytics or pipeline scheduling is required. Experience in financial trading can also be a route into this occupation.
  • The key to this position is the ability to quickly analyze information and see/project where the opportunity is.

  • Minimal or no travel
  • Primarily indoor/office work
  • Work not physically demanding

You have excellent math skills, and an analytical mind. You can solve complex problems quickly and in stressful environments.

  • Economics and accounting
  • Mathematics
  • Sales and marketing
  • Critical thinking
  • Judgment and decision making
  • Active listening
  • Negotiation
  • Administration and management
  • Risk taker
  • Transportation