* Holliday to step down in May
* Shell plans energy transition
(Adds detail)
By Ron Bousso
LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell on
Thursday announced former BHP CEO Andrew Mackenzie as its next
chairman who will help lead the energy company through a major
shift away from oil and gas to low-carbon energy.
Mackenzie will succeed Charles Holliday who will step down
on May 18 after serving six years in the role.
Mackenzie, who left BHP Group last year
after serving as CEO of the mining group from 2013 to 2019,
joined Shell's board in October 2020.
Before that he worked at Rio Tinto for three years
following a 22-year career in BP, where he held senior
roles in oil and gas exploration, research and development and
chemicals.
Mackenzie, a British national born in 1956, will take over
as the Anglo-Dutch company undergoes a major overhaul focused on
low-carbon businesses and power trading and reducing its
greenhouse emissions by mid-century.
He will also likely lead in the coming years the search for
a successor to CEO Ben van Beurden, who has been in office since
2014.
His appointment also follows a year which due to the
pandemic prompted Shell to cut its dividend for the first time
since World War II.
"I look forward to working with Ben van Beurden and the
Board to profitably accelerate Shell's transition into a
net-zero emissions energy business that continues to generate
substantial value for shareholders, customers and communities
alike," Mackenzie said.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by Edmund Blair and Jason
Neely)