Shell is hunting for a new chairman amid growing speculation that current chief Jorma Ollila will step down next year.
The oil giant has asked Egon Zehnder International, the executive search firm, to find his successor, according to reports last night.
Mr Ollila will have served as Shell’s chairman for nine years by next year’s annual meeting, marking a natural departure point for the former Nokia boss.
The news follows a disappointing spell for the firm in the UK, which reported a 48% slide in profits earlier this year.
Production fell across Shell’s North Sea operations by 22% last year, down 26,000 barrels of oil equivalent. As much as 15,000 of that was due to maintenance downtime and unscheduled maintenance.
The oil giant has since started a review of 150 “core performance units” and announced plans to sell three of its North Sea fields – the Anasuria, Nelson and Sean.
It was unclear whether a successor could be drawn from Shell’s existing ranks of non-executive directors.
Shell refused to comment on the story last night – but it is understood some investors are keen for the company to appoint an outsider as its new chairman as the oil group continues to refine its strategy under its recently appointed chief executive.
Ben van Beurden took over at the helm of Shell at the beginning of the year, having previously run its downstream operations.
Mr van Beurden was a surprise appointment to replace Peter Voser, another veteran Shell executive who was well-regarded in the City but who quit to spend more time with his family.
Mr van Beurden said Shell would be making “hard choices” about all of its assets this year.
Anasuria is a Shell-operated, manned FPSO installation for the production from four subsea fields: Teal, Teal South, Guillemot A and Cook. Shell has a 50% equity share, and the joint venture partner is Esso Exploration and Production UK with a 50% holding.
Nelson is a Shell-operated, manned platform and includes subsea tie-backs to Howe and Bardolino.
Sean is a Shell-operated, manned, two bridge-linked platform, a wellhead platform, and a production platform located in the Southern North Sea 68 miles north-east of Lowestoft.
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