Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) Pilot Co is shuttering its international oil trading business, with the aim of refocusing on its Pilot Flying J service stations and truck stops in the U.S., Reuters reported Tuesday.

The company has dismissed nearly all employees running international trading, and instead plans to devote resources to growing its own North American businesses, according to the report.

Known for its service stations and truck stops, Tennessee-based Pilot began international trading after Warren Buffett's conglomerate took a 39% stake in the company in 2017.

Buffett bought the final 20% of Pilot in January last year, following a legal dispute with Jimmy Haslam over the company's valuation, after its pre-tax profit was cut in half from over $2.3B in 2022 to $1.06B in 2023.

Since then, Pilot's appetite for the risk attached to international oil trading has tapered, and the company let go of most of its international oil and fuel traders during recent months, the report said.

Pilot's revenue totaled more than $36B in the first nine months of 2024 and pre-tax earnings were $486B, both Y/Y declines, according to Berkshire's (BRK.A) (BRK.B) latest quarterly report.

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