Last checked at 
* Veteran head of crude oil Alvarez retires
* Glencore hires ex-BP Asia trading chief from Goldman
* Chin Thean Quek big player in Singapore fuel oil trading
* Goldman appoints Xiao Qin as new Asia commodities head (Recasts, adds crude oil head retiring)
By David Sheppard and Dmitry Zhdannikov
LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - Glencore's powerfuloil trading division is undergoing a rare reshuffle after20-year veteran executive Louis Alvarez retired, while theformer head of BP's Asian trading arm has been hired tohead the firm's Singapore-based operations.
Hiring outsiders is a rarity for Glencore, which prefers togroom people from within, including current Chief Executive IvanGlasenberg, who traded coal when Glencore's founder Marc Richwas in charge in the 1980s.
The changes come as Glencore has praised how its tradingexpertise can buffer results against the collapse in oil, metaland iron ore prices, with the firm emphasising its commoditydealing roots in its latest results.
Alvarez was the head of crude oil under Alex Beard, thelong-serving global head of oil for Glencore. Alvarez retired atthe start of 2015, a source close to the company and severaltrading insiders told Reuters.
Both men came from BP in the early 1990s and at the time ofGlencore's landmark share placement in 2012, Alvarez was worth$600 million based on his shareholding in the company.
Glencore has now hired the head of Goldman Sachs's commodity business in Asia to run its Singapore operations, twoindustry sources said on Monday, appointing a veteran fuel oiltrader in the world's largest hub for the heavy fuel.
Chin Thean Quek, who once headed BP's Asian tradingoperation, had built a reputation as one of the most powerfultraders in the Singapore-centred fuel oil market before joiningGoldman two years ago.
Glencore already owns global fuel oil trader Chemoil, butfirms have been focusing increased resources on the Singaporemarket, seeing opportunities after the collapse of Danishshipping fuel trader OW Bunker late last year.
Mark Catton, who headed Glencore's Singapore operationsduring an 18-year stint in Asia, is moving back to London, oneof the sources said, without saying what new position he istaking at the commodity trader and miner. He has been withGlencore since 1990.
Quek, who left BP with his team to run China's BrightoilPetroleum in 2010, brings with him from Goldman a reputation forquickly establishing one of the largest fuel oil operations inSingapore, the world's hub for trading the heavy fuel.
Within two years of joining Brightoil his team wasdominating the fuel oil derivatives market in Singapore, tradingthe equivalent of 17.3 million tonnes a year or more than doublethat of BP, its closest rival.
Brightoil also became the second-largest bunker supplier byvolume in Singapore in 2011, according to the Maritime PortAuthority of Singapore.
BP sued Quek and five other ex-employees in 2010 allegingthey had taken confidential company information, including oiltrading "cheat sheets". The team of six counter-sued BP forwrongful dismissal, saying it had withheld money owed to them.
To replace Quek, who joined Goldman two years ago, the bankhas appointed Xiao Qin as the new head of its Asia commoditiesbusiness, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters andconfirmed by a spokesman for the bank.
Banks have faced increased regulatory pressure on theirphysical oil and metal trading activities, though Goldman hasstuck with the multi-billion dollar business even as many rivalshave pulled back.
Xiao, an options trading veteran, first joined Goldman 15years ago. He left the bank for a stint at UBS before rejoiningin 2008. (Additional reporting by Silvia Antonioli; Editing by MarkHeinrich and Susan)
