Shell Names New Upstream Director after Wael Sawan Moves to Renewables Role

Royal Dutch Shell Plc on Oct. 15 named Zoë Yujnovich as upstream director, replacing Wael Sawan who will now head Shell’s integrated gas and renewables division.

Sawan, a Canadian citizen of Lebanese origin, is seen by many as a potential successor to Shell CEO Ben van Beurden along with Huibert Vigeveno, who heads Shell’s refining and chemicals division, according to a Reuters report.

In his new position as integrated gas and renewable and energy solutions (R&ES) director, Sawan will oversee Shell’s continued expansion into low-carbon and renewable energies as well as the power markets, key pillars in Shell’s strategy to reduce its emissions to net-zero by 2050.

Sawan takes over from Maarten Wetselaar, who is set to become the CEO of Spanish refiner Cepsa at the start of 2022. Wetselaar, who was once himself seen as a candidate to take the top spot at the company according to Reuters, leaves Shell after 25 years with the supermajor during which time he oversaw Shell’s growth into LNG and other low-carbon investments, such as offshore wind, hydrogen and electric vehicle charging.

“I am also immensely grateful to Maarten for his outstanding contribution to Shell and our customers, for his vision and drive in shaping a world-class LNG portfolio, and for laying the foundations of our power and renewable solutions business,” Shell CEO van Beurden said in a statement wishing Wetselaar well in his new role at Cepsa.

Both Sawan and Yujnovich’s appointments are effective Oct. 25.

In his new role, Sawan will remain a member of the executive committee and continue to be based in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Yujnovich will join the executive committee and also be based in the Netherlands.

“Zoë and Wael are both strong, focused leaders, who will bring great energy and commercial expertise to their new roles,” van Beurden added in the release. “Their proven leadership skills will be crucial as we deliver our powering progress strategy purposefully and profitably.”

Yujnovich, 46, has nearly 25 years of frontline and leadership experience, most recently based in The Hague as Shell’s executive vice president of conventional oil and gas. She was previously country chair for Shell’s businesses in Australia and New Zealand, based in Perth, and executive vice president for oil sands, based in Calgary, Alberta. She trained as an engineer and started her career with Rio Tinto, working in management roles in Australia, Brazil, the U.K. and Canada.

Since joining Shell in 1997, Sawan, 47, has worked across Shell’s upstream, integrated gas and downstream businesses. He originally trained as an engineer and joined Shell to work at the Shell joint venture, Petroleum Development Oman (PDO). He followed this with roles in gas and power and the global retail team. In 2012 he became managing director and chairman of the Qatar Shell companies, where his responsibilities included Pearl GTL, one of the largest oil and gas projects in the world. From there he went on to run Shell’s deepwater business, based in Houston, and became upstream director and a member of the executive committee of Royal Dutch Shell in July 2019.