Last checked at 
By Dmitry Zhdannikov
LONDON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - One of the world's most powerfuland best-paid oil traders, BP's head of crude Donald Porteous,will retire from the company in 2016 after what industry sourcesdescribed as several years of bumper profits.
Porteous, in his early 40s, is dubbed in the industry as"The King of Cushing", the United States' main oil trading hub,where BP controls large storage facilities, pipelines and arefinery, giving it a big logistical advantage over competitors.
BP has one of the biggest oil trading desks in the world andPorteous has made hundreds of millions of dollars for thecompany in recent years, according to industry sources.
His own annual remuneration was often higher than that of BPChief Executive Bob Dudley, who made $12.7 million last year,the sources said.
BP is not obliged to disclose how much it pays its tradersbecause they are not deemed to be executives. BP declined tocomment on Porteous' retirement and pay. Porteous could not bereached for comment.
"Oil trading is a very competitive industry and as with mosttraders you have to reward performance," a source familiar withthe situation said.
The source said Porteous was retiring for personal reasons.
BP employs 1,800 people in oil trading, which has been oneof its highest-paying divisions for decades.
The trading desk was the alma mater for Glencore's head of oil Alex Beard, who became a billionaire after thatcompany's initial public offering in 2011. Oil trader Gunvor'scurrent owner Torbjorn Tornqvist also started his career at BP.
BP Chief Financial Officer Brian Gilvary was head of tradingat the company between 2005 and 2010.
The last time BP disclosed figures for trading, in 2005, itearned $2.97 billion, or over a tenth of the firm's net profit.
As oil market volatility picked up in recent quarters, BPreported "stronger" contributions from trading, helpingpartially to offset much lower earnings from oil production asenergy prices tanked.
Gilvary has said BP's trading performance during somequarters recently was as strong as in early 2009, when traderssaw record profits.
BP's U.S. trading desk has traditionally been one of thestrongest contributors to profits but also a source ofcontroversy.
In 2007, BP paid $303 million in fines to settle criminaland civil cases related to manipulation of the U.S. propanemarket. It also had an independent monitor sitting on itstrading desk for several years.
This year, U.S. investigators are probing whether BP brokeanti-fraud and reporting rules on using oil pipelines thatdeliver Canadian oil to the United States. The oil giant said itsubmitted a detailed defence to U.S. regulators in mid-December.
Early retirement isn't necessarily the norm for the mostsuccessful traders, many of whom carry on long past the point atwhich they could bow out including such famous names as AndyHall, a 64-year-old former Citigroup trader.
Porteous' predecessors, Nick Wildgoose and James Dyer, alsoleft BP at a relatively young age. They emerged later at oiltrader Arcadia.
In 2011, Wildgoose and Dyer were accused by the U.S.Commodity Futures Trading Commission of manipulating U.S. crudeprices and settled for $13 million last year without admittingor denying wrongdoing. The focal point of that probe was oiltrading around Cushing, Oklahoma. (Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper; Editing by Dale Hudson)
