Shell LNG trading boss to step down

A Shell spokesperson said, “Steve Hill, executive vice president Shell Energy, has elected to leave Shell. He will leave behind a strong team and a well-positioned portfolio. We thank him for his significant contribution and wish him well in his future endeavours. Steve will hand over his responsibilities – and his successor will be announced – in the coming weeks.”

The date for the transition is 28 March, according to a Reuters report. The article also listed Shell as the world’s largest LNG trader, accounting for almost 17% of global LNG trading volumes in 2023. 

Shell’s LNG profits for Q4 2023 tallied up to US$2.4Bn.

Mr Hill launched Shell’s LNG Outlook 2023 report in China, saying in a LinkedIn post that the company had secured third-party access to "bring in LNG cargoes ourselves to directly sell gas/LNG to customers downstream – creating an end-to-end value chain," and thanking PipeChina Company "for its support and collaboration in enabling third-party access to infrastructure".

The company’s 2024 LNG Outlook cited Mr Hill, and predicted that 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. 

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.

In January 2024, Tom Summers was appointed as a senior vice president for Shell LNG Marketing and Trading.