Shell president hands over responsibilities for Middle East activities

Jeroen van der Veer, President of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and Vice Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors (CMD) of Shell of Companies, handed over his responsibility for Shell's business activities in the Middle East to Walter van de Vijver in July of this year.
"I have been the CMD member responsible for the Middle East for five years now and have thoroughly enjoyed having the Middle East as my regional responsibility during that time. I have always had a close affinity with the area and will miss being closely involved with the people and the region. However, I will continue to visit the region both for personal reasons, as I will continue to holiday there, and for business reasons. The Middle East will always stand out in my memories for the similarity of its philosophies with those of Shell.”

"In Shell we emphasise the need to work with Nationals and to ensure that they achieve senior managerial positions within the Group and that local operations are run by Nationals.Training and empowerment are vital elements in our policies and I see the role of expatriates as being more and more to train and share their global experiences with Nationals so that they can take on the job of running local operations.”
"In Shell we believe in listening to our partners and discussing all aspects of any future business relationship to ensure that we achieve a win-win situation which suits everyone. A very good example of this is the Saudi Arabian Natural Gas Initiative and Shell's recent achievement in successfully completing negotiations for the Core Venture 3 part of this enormous undertaking by the Saudi government.”

"The last few years have been very exciting and it has been satisfying for me to see the signing of the Core Venture 3 agreement, in which I have been heavily involved, before I move on. The acreage which Core Venture 3 covers is five times the size of The Netherlands and now that the negotiations are completed it is going to be all about seismic surveys and drilling holes.”
"Finally, I believe that the Shell Group's Business Principles are well respected, appreciated and accepted by many governments and partners with whom we do business in the region. I will always be a good ambassador for the Middle East and have enjoyed doing business in the Middle East. I like the combination of respect and the certain informality that go hand in hand in the region. I could not imagine sitting at a boardroom table when talking business in the Middle East and find the more relaxed and informal Majlis a much more pleasant way of conducting negotiations.”

"My new regional responsibility will be for the Americas, a region which spreads from Mexico in the north to Argentina in the south, and one which I know well from my time as CEO of Shell Chemicals in the USA. I will also take over as non-executive Chairman of Shell Canada.”
"Saying farewell is always a difficult experience as one treasures the relationships which have been built up over the years. However, I am handing over to Walter van de Vijver, who will be taking over the CMD responsibility for the region and I know that Shell's businesses in the region will be in very capable hands. I look forward to seeing many of you again in the years to come and thank you all for your help and friendship in the past."

Walter van de Vijver is the CEO of Shell's Exploration and Production (E&P) Business and has been a member of the CMD of Shell of Companies for the last two years. Walter took over responsibility for Shell's business activities in the Middle East in July of this year.
"My previous regional responsibility as a CMD member was for Latin America and Africa, but now it is for the Middle East, Russia and the CIS. This change is very much in line with my aspirations for Shell to have a bigger presence and more business activities in the Middle East. The Middle East is very important for Shell as the largest private producer of both gas and oil in the region and this importance is going to be reflected later this year with the opening of a new Shell E&P Regional Office in Dubai.”

"For me it is a welcome return to the region as I was based in Qatar from 1981 to 1983 and from 1987 to 1991 in Oman, working as the Operations Manager for Northern Oman at PDO [Petroleum Development Oman].
"Shell's E&P Business is currently undergoing a major reorganisation and globalisation to better position Shell in the current competitive environment. Shell's aspirations include playing a significant role in developing major projects in new areas. The Middle East is one such area where we expect to be involved in major developments and we see a very positive window of opportunity for the growth of both existing and new business partnerships in the region.”

"The recent signing of the Core Venture 3 agreement with the Saudi government, mentioned by Jeroen, and our new partnership in that with Saudi Aramco, the country's National Oil and Gas Company, is a wonderful example of such partnership in action. There are also other countries with whom we are negotiating major projects which we hope to see come to fruition, including Qatar and Kuwait.”
"The monetisation of gas is taking on a greater and greater importance globally. As the world's biggest private producer of gas I believe we are ideally positioned to work in partnership with many countries in the Middle East where the reserves of gas are amongst the largest to be found anywhere in the world. Shell has the experience and technological expertise to develop these gas reserves and, more importantly, the will to do so. Shell's expertise in the gas industry, whether it be in Gas-to-Liquids, LNG or in Natural Gas, is second to none and I hope we will be able to help many countries in the region by working with them to develop their gas reserves.

"Shell has a long-term commitment to the region and the Group wants to leverage its regional and global experience and to integrate it into the overall value chain. The Group's skill pool is very large and we intend to use it wherever we can to train and develop Nationals to take on ever-bigger roles in the oil and gas industry in the region.”
"We recognise that the nature of the energy business demands that we think in decades rather than years and create relationships that will stand the test of time. During the months and years ahead I am planning to make regular visits to the Middle East to renew some old friendships and, I hope, make many new ones, and I look forward to meeting many of you."