New Shell CEO Wael Sawan will appoint a chief of staff in March – tasked with tackling major performance issues, such as Prelude floating LNG (FLNG).
Reuters reported the Shell plan, citing three unnamed company sources.
Sawan, who took over the CEO role in January, announced the chief of staff plan in a memo last week. The executive intends to set out the company’s new strategy in June, Reuters said.
The report said that, in addition to repeated outages at Prelude, a chief of staff would also tackle challenges such as the major malfunction at the Pernis refinery, in the Netherlands.
Reuters name head of acquisitions and divestments Katie Jackson, Qatar Shell managing director Richard Tallant and Australia country chair Tony Nunan as frontrunners.
Following an expected announcement in March, the role will come into operation on July 1. The chief of staff would not have a permanent seat on Shell’s executive committee but would take part in meetings.
Powered progress
Sawan chose to cut the size of the executive committee in January, from nine members to seven. The move was intended to “simplify the organisation further and improve performance as we deliver our Powering Progress strategy”, the company said.
The move saw the closure of the Strategy, Sustainability and Corporate Relations (SSCR) Directorate. Director Ed Daniels is due to leave on July 1. Sawan will take over direct reporting from corporate relations.
The changes also involved the merger of Integrated Gas and Upstream, to create a single unit. Upstream director Zoe Yujnovich takes over as the new head. The Downstream unit was combined with Renewables & Energy Solutions, under Huibert Vigeveno.
Sawan said the changes were “part of Shell’s natural, and continuous, evolution”. A simplified structure means “greater co-operation, discipline and speed, enabling us to focus on strengthening performance across the businesses and generating strong returns for our investors”.
