MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell has appointed Andrew Mackenzie, former CEO of mining giant BHP and a former senior leader at BP to take over as chairman starting May, as the Anglo-Dutch major pursues a new transition strategy, reported S&P Global with reference to the company's statement on March 11.
Mackenzie takes over from Chad Holliday and will be the first British chair of Shell since a scandal over mis-statement of reserves rocked the company in the early 2000s.
Holder of a doctorate in organic chemistry, Mackenzie worked in senior roles for BP for 22 years. He went on to become head of industrial minerals and diamonds at Anglo-Australian minor Rio Tinto from 2004-2007, before becoming CEO of rival BHP, from 2013-2019.
He joined Shell's board in October 2020.
"In addition to proven experience of leading a large, complex international organization, the requirement was for someone with significant experience in capital discipline and with the ability to balance, and judge the timing, of the transformational changes that Shell needs to make," Shell said in a statement.
Holliday, who is stepping down after six years, said Mackenzie "brings a wealth of leadership and sustainability experience, scientific curiosity and commercial acumen that ideally equip him to help Shell navigate the energy transition and deliver on the far-reaching Powering Progress strategy."
The appointment comes after Shell unveiled a new strategy last month in the wake of last year's price collapse, the coronavirus crisis, and rising pressures to transition away from fossil fuels.
Shell expects its oil production to decrease by 1%-2% annually as it holds upstream investment close to 2020 levels and prioritizes transition areas such as LNG, renewables and electricity provision.
Mackenzie said: "I believe Shell has an exceptional portfolio of future-facing assets and I look forward to working with (CEO) Ben van Beurden and the board to profitably accelerate Shell's transition into a net-zero emissions energy business that continues to generate substantial value for shareholders, customers and communities alike."
The change of roles is scheduled for the company's AGM on May 18.
As MRC informed before, Royal Dutch Shell Plc pushed back the restart of its 318,000 bpd joint-venture Deer Park, Texas, refinery to March 13. Shell had planned to restart the 270,000-bpd DU-2 crude distillation unit (CDU), the largest at the refinery, by early this week. Shell is continuing repairs at the refinery to enable it to restart from the Feb. 15 shutdown because of cold weather. Repairs could last until April.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
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