Ceri Powell will step down as executive vice president for exploration at Royal Dutch Shell to become managing director of Brunei Shell Petroleum. Marc Gerrits will replace her in the position. Powell has been in her current role for the past 7 years, taking over in 2010 after a 2-year stint as vice president of strategy with the company. From 2004 to 2008 she was vice president of exploration for the Middle East, Caspian Sea, and South Asia. Prior to that she spent 2 years each as Shell's head of upstream competitive intelligence and as personal business advisor to the chief executive officer of Shell Exploration & Production. Powell holds a BSc in geology from Liverpool University and a PhD in structural geology from The University of Wales.
Gerrits has been president of strategy and upstream portfolio for Shell International since 2015. Prior to that, he was vice president of exploration Asia for 5 years. Gerrits began his career with Shell in 1986, holding a variety of positions in Australia, the UK, Angola, The Netherlands, Egypt, and Libya. He holds a BS from the University of Queensland.