Shell names new exploration head

Global oil major Shell will after seven years have a new executive vice president of exploration, effective February 13, 2017.

Shell told Offshore Energy Today that the current executive vice president of exploration, Ceri Powell will be replaced by Marc Gerrits.

Gerrits holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Queensland, Australia. He began his career with Shell in 1986 in Australia. Since 1989, Gerrits held a variety of exploration positions in the UK, Angola, The Netherlands, Egypt, and Libya.

He was the Vice President of Exploration Asia from 2009 until 2014 and was based in Singapore. During this time, he was responsible for finding and appraising new oil and gas discoveries within the Asian region.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Gerrits is currently president of Strategy & Upstream Portfolio for Shell International BV, a position he’s held from February 2015.

Powell off to Brunei

As for Ceri Powell, the current executive vice president of exploration, she has been appointed Managing Director Brunei Shell Petroleum, with effect 13th March, 2017 and will be based in Brunei.

Powell, who graduated with a BSc. in Geology from Liverpool University, and with a PhD in Structural Geology from The University of Wales (Cardiff),
joined Shell in 1990.

She has since then worked in the UK, Angola, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates.

She has been the Executive Vice President Exploration, Shell Upstream International since 2009, and in 2013 her role was expanded to Global Functional Head of Exploration.

She also served on the United Nations Advisory Board for Sustainable Energy for All, chaired by the UN Secretary-General.

Powell has been featured on Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women list twice, where she ranked 21st on the 2014 list and 29th in 2013. The 21st place on the Forbes list put her amongst the top three women in the oil and gas industry at the time, only behind Vicki Hollub of Occidental and Mariana Gheorghe of the Romanian gas group Petrom.

Offshore Energy Today Staff