Su, a senior China-focused trader who recently left BP, is expected to start work in December, they said.

Hengli Oilchem, 80% owned by Hengli and 20% by Sinochem Corp, did not immediately respond to requests for comment and Su could not be reached for comment.

The company, which started operations in Singapore in 2018, trades and buys crude for Hengli Group's 400,000 barrel per day refinery in Dalian, northeast China.

(Reporting by Florence Tan and Chen Aizhu; Editing by David Goodman)