Shell (SHEL) to Replace Current CEO With Wael Sawan in 2023

Shell plc SHEL has declared that the incumbent chief executive officer (CEO) of the company — Ben van Beurden — will step down from his position by the end of 2022. Wael Sawan, SHEL’s head of gas and renewables, will succeed Ben van Beurden and take charge as the CEO, starting Jan 1, 2023.

Ben van Beurden, however, will continue working as an adviser to the board until Jun 30, 2023, after which he is set to leave the group.

Ben van Beurden has been serving as the CEO of the British energy major since January 2014. Prior to this, he served as the downstream director and as the executive vice president of chemicals before that. During his tenure, Shell acquired the British multinational oil and gas company — BG Group plc — which turned out to be one of SHEL’s largest acquisitions in decades.

Recently, Ben van Beurden led Shell to a significant overhaul in its legal structure. This led to the relocation of its headquarters from the Netherlands to London and dropping “Royal Dutch” from its name.

Presently serving as the director of integrated gas, renewables and energy solutions, Wael Sawan is expected to help continue Shell’s green transition strategy, which aims at cutting down the firm’s greenhouse-gas emissions and its transformational strategy initiated by Ben van Beurden. Having previously worked as the director of upstream, Sawan has been part of the organization for more than 25 years.

“Wael Sawan is an exceptional leader, with all the qualities needed to drive Shell safely and profitably through its next phase of transition and growth,” Shell’s Chairman, Sir Andrew Mackenzie, mentioned of CEO van Beurden’s successor. “His track record of commercial, operational and transformational success reflects not only his broad, deep experience and understanding of Shell and the energy sector, but also his strategic clarity,” he added.

Commenting on the outgoing CEO, Mackenzie stated that van Beurden could look back with pride on an exceptional career at Shell lasting almost four decades, culminating in nine years as an outstanding CEO. “He leaves a financially strong and profitable company with a robust balance sheet, very strong cash generation capability, and a compelling set of options for growth,” Mackenzie ended.

Shell is one of the primary oil supermajors, a group of U.S. and Europe-based big energy multinationals with operations spanning worldwide. The company is fully integrated as it participates in every aspect related to energy, from oil production to refining and marketing.SHEL operates as an energy and petrochemical company. Shell plc was formerly known as Royal Dutch Shell.

Shell currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the energy space might look at the following companies — BP BP, Phillips 66 PSX and Exxon Mobil XOM — each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BP’s 2022 earnings is pegged at $8.39 per share, which is an increase of about 119.6% from the year-ago earnings of $3.82.

BP beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in all the trailing four quarters, the average being around 15.5%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Phillips’ 2022 earnings stands at $16.22 per share, suggesting an increase of about 184.6% from the year-ago earnings of $5.70.

PSX beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in all the trailing four quarters, the average being around 36.4%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Exxon Mobil’s 2022 earnings is pegged at $12.69 per share, suggesting an increase of about 135.9% from the year-ago earnings of $5.38.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for XOM’s 2022 earnings has been revised upward by about 12.5% over the past 60 days from $11.28 per share to $12.69 per share.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
BP p.l.c. (BP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Phillips 66 (PSX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (SHEL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research