Vitol, the world's biggest oil trader, said on Thursday that its 2012 revenues rose to a record $303 billion and that the company may acquire more assets in a competitive trading environment. The revenues were up by around 2 percent from 2011's $297 billion in a year when oil prices traded on average near $112 a barrel. Swiss-based Vitol said total traded volumes of crude oil and oil products were 261 million tonnes in 2012 compared with 273 million tonnes the previous year. Vitol's President and Chief Executive Ian Taylor called the 2012 trading results "solid". "It was a year without the additional advantages of market structure or volatility that previous years have offered and trading markets continue to become increasingly competitive, with additional pressure on margins," he said in a statement. Vitol did not issue profit figures. Most private trading houses either do not release profits or do so many months after the event. Vitol reported its second-highest profits on record in 2011 on a steep increase in revenue, but its profit margin and cash flow fell to their lowest in four years, the firm disclosed. (Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Anthony Barker)

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