Energy · Profile from Energy Research Companion
Shell
The Anglo-Dutch major formed when Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport and Trading pooled their businesses in 1907. It is now a single London-headquartered company (Shell plc, since January 2022) whose core is the world's largest portfolio of liquefied natural gas among the international oil companies, alongside deepwater oil (Brazil, the US Gulf, Nigeria offshore), a large trading arm, chemicals, and fuel and lubricants retail. It produced ~2.8–2.9m barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d) in 2024 and sold ~65m tonnes of LNG that year (company, reported). Its history is a run of credibility tests: the 2004 reserves scandal, the abandoned Alaskan Arctic programme (2015), the ~$70bn BG Group bet on LNG (2016), the 2021 Dutch court order to cut emissions (overturned in 2024), the forced exit from Russia's Sakhalin-2 (2022), and then CEO Wael Sawan's 2023 retreat from its transition plans toward LNG, cash returns and lower costs. In 2026 the Iran war hit its Qatari assets and LNG contracts directly.
At a glance
- Founded
- Royal Dutch Petroleum Company 1890 (The Hague; Sumatra oil); The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company 1897 (London; Marcus Samuel); businesses combined 60:40 in 1907; unified into Royal Dutch Shell plc 2005; renamed Shell plc and moved to a single London headquarters 2022
- Headquarters
- London, UK (since January 2022; previously The Hague for the unified company, 2005–21)
- Ownership / structure
- Public (London, Amsterdam and New York via ADS: SHEL); one share class since January 2022; widely held by institutions (BlackRock and other index managers are the largest holders, reported)
- Leadership (2026)
- Wael Sawan (CEO since 1 January 2023); Sinead Gorman (CFO); Andrew Mackenzie (chair since 2021) (verify 2026 board changes)
- Segments
- Integrated Gas (LNG liquefaction, trading, gas-to-liquids); Upstream (deepwater and conventional oil and gas); Marketing (fuel retail, ~45,000+ service stations claimed, lubricants); Chemicals and Products (refining, chemicals, trading); Renewables and Energy Solutions (power trading, a cut-back renewables business, hydrogen, CCS)
- Scale
- 2024: production ~2.8–2.9m boe/d; LNG liquefaction volumes ~28–29 Mt (Shell's share) and total LNG sales ~65 Mt; revenue ~$285bn; adjusted earnings ~$23.7bn (2022 record ~$39.9bn); ~96,000 employees (company, reported; verify exact figures). SEC proved reserves ~9.6bn boe at end-2024 (company 20-F, reported; verify)
- Reserves and price basis
- SEC proved reserves at the 12-month average price; Shell reports resources separately. Brent averaged ~$81/bbl in 2024 (reported)
- Market value
- ~$200–220bn in 2025–26 (market data, reported; verify), below ExxonMobil and Chevron despite similar production, a gap Shell's management has said it wants to close
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- The 1907 combination; the 2004 reserves recategorisation; the Alaskan Arctic exit (2015); BG Group (2016); the Hague climate ruling (2021) and appeal (2024); unification and the move to London (2022); the Sakhalin-2 exit (2022); Sawan's reset (2023–25); the Nigeria onshore sale (2024–25)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1907
Royal Dutch Shell Combination
Acquisition or merger (an operating combination under two holding companies)
2004
Reserves Recategorisation
Regulatory or legal action (restatement of reserves and the enforcement and governance changes that followed)
2015
Arctic Drilling Exit
Technology bet (frontier exploration) ending in a write-off and strategy pivot
2016
BG Group Acquisition
Acquisition or merger
2021
Hague Climate Ruling and 2024 Appeal
Regulatory or legal action
2022
Sakhalin 2 Exit
Sanctions or nationalisation (exit, then expropriation by decree)
2022
Unification and Move to London
Restructuring
2023
Sawan Reset
Strategy pivot
2024
Nigeria Onshore Sale
Divestment