By Shariq Khan

NEW YORK, June 11 (Reuters) - Citadel has hired veteran U.S. oil and fuel trader Shai Barnea as a portfolio manager for its refined products trading business as the U.S. hedge fund looks to push deeper into commodities markets, two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Barnea previously spent over a decade at trading firm Freepoint Commodities, where he was appointed global head of oil products in 2021, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to joining Freepoint in 2012, Barnea traded oil and fuel derivatives for Barclays BARC.L, according to his profile.

Barnea's appointment comes as Citadel continues to expand its top-performing commodities business, which has delivered record profits for Ken Griffin's hedge fund firm in recent years.

Citadel's commodities arm, led by Sebastian Barrack, trades oil, natural gas and agricultural products, among other key markets. Earlier this year, it acquired privately-owned Paloma Natural Gas, adding energy production to the trading portfolio for the first time.

Citadel has also recently hired power trader Nic Zhang from Goldman Sachs GS.N, a source told Reuters.

Citadel declined to comment on personnel decisions. Zhang and Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Reuters earlier reported that Barnea was among a number of employees to depart Freepoint in recent months. His departure coincided with an ex-Freepoint analyst's lawsuit alleging that top executives at the firm, including Barnea, pressured employees to break insider trading laws and retaliated against those that objected.

Citadel began interviewing Barnea well before the lawsuit was filed, and was comfortable proceeding with his recruitment after it had reviewed the lawsuit, a source familiar with the hiring process told Reuters.

Barnea and Freepoint did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

(Reporting by Shariq Khan and Georgina McCartney in New YorkEditing by Marguerita Choy)

((Shariq.Khan@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter/X: @shariqrtrs; Office: (646) 261-7893;))