EurOil: Shell CEO to step down at year-end

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden will step down from his post at the end of 2022 after a nine-year stint, with a company veteran due to take his place.

Van Beurden oversaw the company through its transformational acquisition of BG Group in 2016, greatly expanding its LNG business, and the subsequent sale of some $30bn of non-core assets. He also led the company through its embrace of emissions reduction targets from 2017.

“Ben can look back with great pride on an extraordinary 39-year Shell career, culminating in nine years as an exceptional CEO,” company chair Andrew Mackenzie commented. “During the last decade, he has been a vanguard for the transition of Shell to a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 and has become a leading industry voice on some of the most important issues affecting society.”

The chair added that van Beurden was leaving behind “a financially strong and profitable company with a robust balance sheet, very strong cash generation capability and a compelling set of options for growth.”

The departing CEO will stay on as an advisor on the company’s board until the end of June next year, after which he will leave Shell for good. 

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