Shell CEO Ben van Beurden to step down next year: report

Ben van Beurden is preparing to step down as the CEO of Shell next year after nearly a decade of running the oil and gas giant, sources told Reuters. Shell has already shortlisted four candidates to succeed him.

Shell’s board succession committee has met several times in the past months to draw up plans for Van Beurden’s departure and interview his replacement, Reuters reported. The company has narrowed down the 64-year-old Dutch man’s potential successors to Wael Sawan, Shell’s head of integrated gas and renewables, Huibert Vigeveno, who heads the company’s downstream refining operations, CFO Sinead Gorman, and Zoe Yujnovich, head of upstream.

Van Beurden is expected to leave next year, though he has not yet decided on an exact departure date, Reuters’ sources said.

During his tenure, Van Beruden oversaw Shell’s acquisition of rival BP Group in 2016. He steered the company through two major downturns and gave in to investor demands to start cutting greenhouse gas emissions. In recent months, Van Beurden focused on relocating Shell’s headquarters from The Hague to London and the energy crisis sparked by Russia invading Ukraine.