Royal Dutch Shell announced that Wael Sawan,
pictured, has been appointed executive vice president, chairman of Qatar Shell and managing director for the Pearl GTL project.He would assume the new role on April 1, Qatar Shell said yesterday.Sawan succeeds Andy Brown who was recently named as director of Upstream International, Royal Dutch Shell.Royal Dutch Shell Executive Director (Upstream International) Malcolm Brinded said: “I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Wael Sawan as executive vice president and chairman of Qatar Shell. I have every confidence that Sawan’s excellent leadership skills and deep knowledge of our business in Qatar will allow for a smooth leadership transition.”Sawan said: “I am delighted and honoured to have been given this opportunity. I am particularly proud of the depth of our partnership with QP and the state of Qatar and am committed to growing that further in the coming years.” He added that he would place great emphasis on continuing Shell’s efforts in support of the Qatar National Vision 2030, across the economic, environmental, human and social pillars. Sawan would be responsible for leading all activities of Shell in Qatar. These consist of the Pearl gas to liquids (GTL) project, the flagship $18bn dollar joint development between QP and Shell and Qatargas 4 the LNG joint venture between QP (70%) and Shell (30%). Holding dual Lebanese/Canadian nationality, Sawan graduated with a master’s in chemical engineering from McGill University in Canada and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. He started his Shell career as a project engineer in Oman in 1997 and progressed through the organisation with leadership roles in Shell’s exploration and production division, gas and power business as well as the global downstream business with various international assignments including in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. In late 2008, Sawan was appointed vice president (commercial, new business development and LNG) in Qatar Shell and is heavily involved in all Shell’s major activities in the country.