Incoming CEO says Canada could have one of the most carbon efficient plants in the world.
A Canadian has been tapped to lead one of the world's most important energy companies, and some of his fellow citizens in the oilpatch hope he can convince the Canadian government to allow liquified natural gas to be exported to Europe.
Wael Sawan, a Canadian national who studied at a Montreal university, will be the new chief executive of Shell.
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Sawan said that they will be disciplined and value focused as they work with their customers and partners to deliver reliable, affordable and cleaner energy.
Ben van Beurden will be replaced by Wael Sawan on New Year's Day.
The photo was taken by Miquel Gonzalez.
The company is trying to position itself for a net-zero carbon emissions future in the face of a worsening energy crisis in Europe. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she intends to seek a windfall tax on the profits of energy producers after a Dutch court ordered Shell to speed up its efforts to meet the Paris climate goals.
Shell's new chief executive needs to balance the company's ambitious decarbonization goals while keeping shareholders happy. Analysts don't think that Sawan will change the course set by van Beurden.
According to Credit Suisse analysts, Sawan is well known to investors and expected his appointment to have limited impact on Shell. The shift is likely to be more of a continuation than a revolution, according to analysts at Royal Bank of Canada.
One fund manager hopes that Sawan will use his Canadian roots to convince Trudeau to get over his skepticism about Canada's potential to supply Europe with liquified natural gas.
Rafi Tahmazian, senior portfolio manager and director at Canoe Financial, said that Sawan needed to demonstrate that Trudeau was wrong when he said that he wasn't sure about the expansion of gas infrastructure.
Shell should be a part of Canada's market for Liquefied Natural Gas. Shell is all about gas and resources. There are big resource plays all over the world. It's right in the middle of it.
Under van Beurden, Shell said it would aim to provide low-carbon fuel and power to customers, targeting net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
At a time when consumers are feeling squeezed by energy prices, public anger over the oil majors has been a problem.
"Sawan has to remain profitable while maintaining some degree of this massive push that Shell and the othersupermajors got put into, to try and be responsible for the new age of energy." His first year will tell us if he has good balance.
In his public comments to date, Sawan has been diplomatic on climate affairs, speaking encouragingly of the Canadian federal government's climate targets, which would require the oil and gas sector to deliver a 42-per-cent reduction in emissions from 2019?
In March of last year, Sawan was bullish on Canadian natural gas, arguing that it could aid in the shift away from coal use in countries like China and the reduction of carbon emissions.
According to Sawan, Canada is well placed and Shell was excited by the potential of the project. He said that Canada could play a good role in the supply of gas and that it would be one of the most carbon efficient plants in the world.
The email was mpotkins@postmedia.
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