Alkagesta moves into vessel ownership and names leadership team for Turkish acquisition

Malta-headquartered global commodity and energy trading house Alkagesta has made its first acquisition of an operating company, with the purchase of Energy Petrol completed in November 2026 after the transfer of shares.

The Istanbul-based marine fuel supplier, founded in 1997, ranks third among physical suppliers in the port of Istanbul and comes with eight supply vessels and a long-term lease of 28,000 cubic metres of tank capacity at Gebze. For a company that had chartered rather than owned tonnage since its founding in Malta in 2018, the deal shifts the business model from trading marine fuel to delivering it directly to shipowners.

Leadership of the new unit has been settled from both sides. Taha Karakan, Managing Director – Marine Fuels Distribution, Türkiye, takes strategic and commercial oversight of Energy Petrol; he joined Alkagesta in October 2024 from Bunker Holding, the world’s largest marine fuel trading group. Aydın Yıldız, appointed Marine Sales Director of Energy Petrol, spent a decade at Petrol Ofisi, most recently as Head of Marine Sales, where the PO/Marine business held around 39 per cent of the Turkish marine fuels market and he managed five departments and a team of 20. He began his career at sea, rising to Chief Engineer before moving into commercial roles.

Energy Petrol continues under its own brand. Its founder, Mustafa Muhtaroğlu, is the founding and current chairman of the Turkish Bunker Association and a 20-year board member of the International Bunker Industry Association.

The Energy Petrol appointments continue a year of leadership development across the group. Darren Axisa was promoted to Country Manager Malta after serving as Operations Manager, and Anthony Guida was named Biofuels Trading Desk Lead after building the desk from its launch in 2025, including ISCC CORSIA certification and the entry into jet fuel trading through the NATO Central European Pipeline System.