Shell (LON:RDSa) PLC (LON:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) chief executive Ben van Beurden is set to step down next year when he reaches 65, reports today indicated.
At the helm of the oil and gas giant for ten years, van Beurden has endured a roller coaster ride including the company’s first dividend cut since the Second World War, switching its HQ from the Netherlands to London and piloting Shell’s transition away from fossil fuels towards renewables.
More recently, Shell has been making headlines for the huge profits it is making due to the war in Ukraine sending oil and gas prices soaring.
Reuters, which released the report, said four candidates have been earmarked as his possible successor - Wael Sawan, Shell’s head of integrated gas and renewables, Huibert Vigevenor, head of refining, chief financial officer Sinead Gorman and head of upstream Zoe Vujnovich.
Sawan is the front runner according to the reports, with the board succession committee already meeting several times to discuss who will take over.
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said “A key feature of his near-decade at the helm has been a focus on natural gas, including the big acquisition of BG Group in 2016.”
“Arguably this strategy has been vindicated by recent events which have revealed the importance of gas for energy security and as a way of transitioning from more polluting fuels to renewables.”
“While there has been considerable volatility in the interim, ultimately since van Beurden took over at the beginning of 2014 he has delivered a total return to shareholders of 45.1%.”
"Given this period encompassed an oil price crash very early in his tenure and a global pandemic, this is not too shabby” Mould commented.
“His successor faces a tough task though, with regulatory pressure likely to be a key theme. Internal appointments are rumoured to be in the running, befitting an organisation which has often looked inwards when planning a succession process.”
“Whoever prevails will have to balance the demands of the environmental lobby, governments and investors” Mould said, adding “at least van Beurden spared them the decision of cutting the dividend, a step taken for the first time since the Second World War in 2020.”
Shares in Shell were up 1.4$ at 2,304p today.