Shell CEO van Beurden to step down next year - report

Shell has reportedly shortlisted four candidates to succeed chief executive Ben van Beurden, who is preparing to step down next year after nearly a decade at the helm of the energy firm.

Reuters cited two company sources as saying that Shell's board succession committee - headed by Chairman Andrew Mackenzie - has met several times in recent months to draw up plans for van Beurden's departure and interview potential successors.

The shortlist has been narrowed down to Wael Sawan, Shell's head of integrated gas and renewables and Huibert Vigeveno, who heads the company's refining operations of downstream, Reuters said.

It was also understood that recently-appointed chief financial officer Sinead Gorman and Zoe Yujnovich, head of upstream, are seen as possible successors.

One source told Reuters that Canadian national Sawan, who previously headed Shell's oil and gas production business and currently oversees the company’s growth into low carbon energies as well as its gas business, is seen as the front-runner.

Van Beurden, who joined Shell in 1983 and became CEO in January 2014, has yet to decide on an exact departure date but is expected to leave next year, the sources said.