You reflect on geopolitics, on trade, on climate, on AI. All of it is moving at a pace where, I think, it's unprecedented. We have a duty to make sure that as all of these intersecting vectors play out, that we are there to support our customers as they try to navigate this difficult and complex landscape. We want to become much more competitive. We want to become much more focused. Good is not good enough. We need to create that best version of the company that we aspire to.
Hello and welcome to The Energy Podcast from Shell, the home of conversation about the energy that powers our world. I'm Bryony.
And how is it that we have come to the end of the season already?
It feels like just yesterday we were having our first conversation around the energy transition. You know, what's your favourite episode that we've had so far?
Difficult to choose a favourite. I think our conversation with Shell's President of Integrated Gas, Cederic Cremers, about LNG, and that's because there's been so much debate around it and its role in the energy transition. I think putting challenging questions to him was really interesting and important. And also the episode about decarbonisation of passenger cars and talking to BMW.
That was good. What about you?
Oh, I mean that's super easy for me. It was the conversation about our new advanced sustainable race fuels with Scuderia Ferrari HP, for sure.
For sure. I mean, you do like to talk about Formula One at any given opportunity though, don’t you?
Today though, we're going to be speaking to, I think, the person that will perfectly wrap up the season.
I mean, we've been trying really hard to get him.
It's our CEO, Wael Sawan.
And I think it's going to give us a chance to step back, look at the bigger picture, look at some of the big shifts and shocks that are happening in the world and what that means for the energy system.
And, of course, he's the perfect person to talk about Shell's role in that system, as well.
Absolutely. He's at the centre of it all.
He's been with Shell for 28 years, I think, actually.
He's been CEO for three of them.
And he's Lebanese-Canadian.
He's also the first non-European CEO of Shell.
What else do I know about him?
He’s also a huge football fan.
Before we start, a quick note to say that when we say “Shell” or “we”, we're talking about Shell plc and its subsidiaries, in general. The companies in which Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities.
Let's get to it, shall we?
Wael, welcome to The Energy Podcast. Thanks so much for joining us today.
Thank you very much for having me. And great to be with you both.
Yeah, you're certainly one of the toughest bookings that we've had all year.
Hardly. I'm sure you've had some great acts before me, so I'm really keen to be here and to see what's on your mind today.
Well, we did in the intro say that you were introduced you as a really big football fan. And I think we should clarify, because we do have a bit of UK-US back and forth on this podcast: Is it Premier League football or are we talking NFL?
Okay, I’m going to give you the diplomatically correct answer. Both. I'm a big fan of NFL. My boys and I are big New Orleans Saints fans. And we're also big fans of international football, or soccer to some. I'm a Liverpool fan. My kids are more Arsenal fans and, therefore, we constantly look for some level of harmony in the household as the two compete, even though Arsenal is well ahead, these days.
There's lots of sledging going on in your house, I think.
Look, there's tonnes of big questions that we have, so let's get straight to it. Thanks.
We’re coming towards the end of the year. And it's been a year marked by geopolitical upheaval, big trends converging. And, of course, you've had a great vantage point of all of those things. I wonder what surprised you the most about the last 12 months? And I'm really interested to know what you think has been the biggest challenge over that year, as well.
Look, I think the pace at which things are moving is difficult to fathom. You reflect on geopolitics, you reflect on trade, reflect on climate, reflect on AI. And all of it is moving at a pace where, I think, it's unprecedented. And energy, of course, is at the intersection of all of these different trends. And so my reflection over the past year is our role as a company, as Shell, as a sector, it's just become more pronounced. We have a duty to make sure that as all of these intersecting vectors play out, that we are there to support our customers as they try to navigate this difficult and complex landscape, that we are supporting our government partners, that we are supporting our customers as they try to figure out what to do here. So, on balance, I think it's more of an opportunity than a challenge that I see. But it does mean continuing to reinvent ourselves in the context of what's happening.
People often wonder how CEOs like you handle tumultuous times like these. And for you, you're a Lebanese-Canadian, you've moved and travelled all over the world. So, I'm curious, how does that life experience help you in this role, particularly in a world and a sector of often polarised views?
I think you have to start with having resilience, inner resilience. And, to me, part of that comes from family, part of it comes from recognising that I need to focus on what I can control while absolutely absorbing the many things that I can't control around us. And, in essence, that's what we're translating our focus into at Shell. We're looking at what are the things we can do to be able to navigate that uncertainty. Things like becoming just leaner, fitter, more competitive, getting a healthier balance sheet, because the world is cyclical and the biggest thing we can do is to make sure that we are fit for those times of uncertainty that come upon us.
I think that's an interesting point, right? Being fit for those times. Your vision for Shell in 10 years' time is for it to be the world's leading integrated energy company. And you’ve said that before. But what do you mean by that? And imagine, you know, we skip forward a decade. What do you think Shell looks like?
Let's start with where we are today. We've been making really strong progress. Just take a look at our Q3 results, recently. We've been able to deliver outstanding performance in our Integrated Gas and Upstream businesses. We had one of the best quarters that we've ever had in marketing, and we are making progress across the patch, whether it is on the discipline that we are demonstrating on capital deployment, so $20-$22 billion of capital a year, whether it's on cost, where we had promised to deliver $2-3 billion of structural cost reductions by the end of 2025, and we're already at $4 billion by middle of 2025. All of that, I think, shows the momentum and the pace that we are building at the moment. And then, if I project to the future, all of that is in service of creating that portfolio that we have talked about, to be the leading gas and integrated gas player in the world, to sustain liquids production through to 2035, to be the most customer-focused energy marketer and trader, really focused on the key areas where we can create value for our customers. Bringing all that together by 2035 and beyond, and really positioning us to be that leader in the energy sector, is a vision that we share as a leadership team and that we are driving the company towards at the moment.
