Hadi Hallouche left Trafigura to pursue other opportunities at the same time Trafigura reassigned leadership positions which led Mark Russell to take the Puma Energy CEO role.

Hadi Hallouche has departed Trafigura's downstream oil division just after his period as a suspected future CEO ended because of significant leadership changes. Hallouche was endorsed as Trafigura's next-generation executive who established strong positions in liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading for the company throughout his lengthy tenure. His prospects for taking over as CEO came to an end in September 2023 after the company excluded him from their executive committee.

The company’s leadership transition carries on after it selected Richard Holtum as its third CEO beginning in January. After beginning his work at Trafigura in 2011 following Shell careers Hallouche led the development of the LNG business before sharing responsibilities for oil trading with other executives. Puma Energy served as his responsibility to revitalize while he also managed operations for the major African and Central American fuel distribution business.

Puma Energy will get its new leader from Trafigura as Mark Russell steps into Hallouche's place following his time as Trafigura's energy regional head for the Middle East and North Africa. They will share the CEO position from the current time up to June 2023. Alongside CEO Jeremy Weir’s retirement as non-executive chairman at Trafigura the company continues facing senior executive retirements including that of Hallouche.

Additional stress has emanated from the recent executive changes at Trafigura since the company delayed its share buyback policy because of the financial effects from the leadership transition.