In less than a year, Shell China Group welcomed a new chairman.
On April 1st, Interface News learned from Shell China that Qu Xuemei will be appointed as the Executive Vice President and Chairman of Shell China from now on. She is the second female group chairman in Shell China's history.
Since July last year, Chen Lin has served as the Chairman of Shell China, becoming the first female Group Chairman in Shell China's history. She has previously held management positions in the upstream, integrated natural gas, and downstream business sectors of Shell Group, with rich financial and business experience.
"Ms. Chen Lin is currently on sick leave and has resigned from her current position," the relevant person in charge of Shell China told Interface News.
After joining Shell in 2017, Qu Xuemei was mainly responsible for the company's lubricant business. She served as the General Manager of the Lubricant Market Department in Greater China and became the Vice President of Shell's Global Lubricant Market in 2021.
Shell cited consulting firm Klein's "Global Lubricant Industry: 2022 Market Analysis and Evaluation Report", which shows that Shell lubricants have been the world's best-selling lubricant for 17 consecutive years. Last year, Shell maintained a share of 11.6% in the global lubricant market.
Unlike Chen Lin, who has financial experience, Shell believes that Qu Xuemei's strengths are reflected in high-performance team building and talent cultivation.
According to official website information, Shell employs approximately 82000 employees in over 70 countries and regions worldwide. Among them, there are over 20000 employees of various types in China, of which over 99% are Chinese citizens.
Last June, Shell proposed three principles: performance, discipline, and simplification. Under this guiding principle, Shell has stated that it will prioritize quality over quantity as its business focus, focusing more on its areas of expertise.
After the three principles were proposed, Shell first contracted in the low-carbon business field. Last June, Shell cancelled its annual investment plan of $100 million in carbon offsetting business; According to a Reuters report in October last year, Shell plans to lay off 15% of its low-carbon solutions division globally; In February this year, Shell announced the permanent closure of seven hydrogen refueling stations operating in California, USA.
Shell is one of the earliest multinational oil companies to propose energy transformation. In February 2021, it launched the "Empowering Progress" strategy, aiming to reduce oil production, expand the scale of liquefied natural gas (LNG) business, and accelerate the development of renewable energy.
Due to geopolitical issues, global energy security has become the top priority. Coupled with the limited profitability of new energy, multinational oil companies such as Shell have slowed down their pace of energy transformation and placed greater emphasis on profitability.
On March 14th, Shell Group released its first energy transformation and renewal plan since 2021. The latest goal is to reduce the net carbon intensity of the energy products it sells by 15% -20% by 2030. The previous goal was to reduce by 20%; Shell has also cancelled its previously planned 45% reduction by 2035. Shell stated that it will continue to maintain its net zero target for 2050.
Last year, Shell's adjusted profit for the year was $28.25 billion, exceeding market expectations, but decreased by about 30% from the record breaking $39.9 billion in 2022.