Reuters: ex-Shell LNG trading boss to move to Mercuria

A Reuters report citing three unnamed sources said Steve Hill is joining energy trading house Mercuria after Shell announced Mr Hill’s departure earlier in March.

Reuters cited Mercuria’s recent profits in its report, saying the company had made US$3Bn in 2022 and its owners were looking to build capacity in LNG trading.

LNG has earned traders, shippers and energy companies billions in recent years, as the market has pivoted in response to Russia’s war against neighbouring Ukraine in 2022. The ongoing war and resultant santions from Western countries have, together, altered global energy flows. Russia formerly provided much of Europe’s natural gas flows via pipelines, and those volumes have been mostly replaced with seaborne LNG volumes.

Shell has reached record profits over the period mentioned. As the world’s largest LNG trader, accounting for almost 17% of global LNG trading volumes in 2023, Shell reported US$28Bn in annual profits in 2023, a result that was down some 30% from its record-setting profits in 2022. Shell’s LNG profits for Q4 2023 tallied up to US$2.4Bn.

Mr Hill was reportedly due to end his tenure with Shell on 28 March, and Shell said he had "elected to leave". In its statement, Shell said Mr Hill had left behind "a strong team and a well-positioned portfolio," having made a "significant contribution" to the company’s profits.

In February 2024, Shell’s 2024 LNG Outlook cited Mr Hill, and predicted China’s coal-based steel production industry, which the company said "accounts for more emissions than the total emissions of the UK, Germany and Turkey, combined", will use LNG to replace coal in a bid to reduce air pollution. 

“China is likely to dominate LNG demand growth this decade as its industry seeks to cut carbon emissions by switching from coal to gas,” Mr Hill said in the report. 

On the whole, the report predicted LNG demand to grow by 50% by 2040.

Shell has seen several executive moves in recent years. Shell brought in a new chief executive, the former director of Shell’s integrated gas, renewables and energy solutions division Wael Sawan, in January 2023, following the departure of long-time chief executive Ben van Buerden.

Mr van Buerden led Shell for nine years, during which time he oversaw the acquisition of BG and a US$30Bn divestment in "non-core assets". Mr Hill began his work with Shell as part of the acquisition.