Royal Dutch Shell announces the appointment of Wael Sawan as Integrated Gas and Renewable and Energy Solutions (R&ES) Director

October 19, 2021

Wael, currently Upstream Director, will remain a member of the Executive Committee in his new role and will continue to be based in the Netherlands. He takes over as Integrated Gas and R&ES Director from Maarten Wetselaar, who will leave the company after more than 25 years of distinguished service on 25^th October. Maarten will join Cepsa as Chief Executive Officer as of 1^st January 2022.

Zoë, currently Executive Vice President, Conventional Oil & Gas, takes over from Wael as Upstream Director and will join the Executive Committee. She will 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. Their proven leadership skills will be crucial as we deliver our Powering Progress strategy purposefully and profitably,” said Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive, Ben van Beurden. “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. I wish him well in his new role.

Notes to editors

Wael Sawan

Since joining Shell in 1997, Wael has worked across Shell’s Upstream, Integrated Gas and Downstream businesses. Wael has garnered extensive commercial and leadership experience in roles spanning across Europe, the Middle East and America. 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 Deep Water business, based in Houston, and became Upstream Director and a member of the Executive Committee of Royal Dutch Shell in July 2019.

Wael, 47, holds a Masters degree in Engineering from McGill University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a Canadian citizen of Lebanese origin and is married with three children.

Zoë Yujnovich

Zoë, 46, has nearly 25 years of frontline and leadership experience, most recently based in The Hague as Shell’s Executive Vice President, Conventional Oil & Gas. Previously she was Country Chair for Shell’s businesses in Australia and New Zealand, based in Perth, and Executive Vice President for Oil Sands, based in Calgary. Zoë trained as an engineer and started her career with Rio Tinto, working in management roles in Australia, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Zoë holds a degree in Engineering from the University of Western Australia and an Executive MBA from the University of Utah. She is married with three children.