Shell: Linda Cook in race for CEO-position

 10/07/2008

Linda Zarda Cook is among the world’s 100 most powerful women – and at Shell responsible for the Renewable Energy and Hydrogen businesses as well as Shell Global Solutions.

Executive summary: “Her appointment would be a historic moment in the traditionally macho world of the oil industry, where women are generally under-represented in the workforce,” says The Financial Times about the head of gas and power at Royal Dutch Shell. Decision will be made in 2009.

Linda Cook, the head of gas and power at Royal Dutch Shell, has moved into pole position to be the first woman chief executive of a major international oil company, after Peter Voser, the company’s chief financial officer, was reported to have dropped out of the race. That is acording to The Financial Times. Decision will be made in 2009.

“Her appointment would be a historic moment in the traditionally macho world of the oil industry, where women are generally under-represented in the workforce.”

Linda Zarda Cook, a University of Kansas petroleum engineering graduate, is among the world’s 100 most powerful women, according to a recent issue of Forbes magazine. Linda Cook, a Shawnee native who earned a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from KU in 1980, appears as 44th on the list. Now the executive director of gas and power for Royal Dutch Shell, Cook is in the running to become CEO of the company in 2009, which would make her the first woman to lead an international oil company, Forbes reported.

An impressive career

As an executive director and member of the board of Royal Dutch Shell plc, she is responsible for Shell’s global Gas & Power business. She also is responsible for the Renewable Energy and Hydrogen businesses as well as Shell Global Solutions. In addition, Cook serves as regional managing director for Shell’s activities in the Asia Pacific region.

Cook joined Shell’s Exploration & Production business in 1980 in Houston as a petroleum engineer. After a variety of technical and managerial appointments, she became a member of Royal Dutch Shell’s global E&P leadership team based in The Hague, Netherlands, in 1998, with responsibility for strategy and business development. In 2001, Cook was named CEO of Shell’s London-based Gas & Power business.

In 2003, Cook was appointed director, president and CEO of Shell Canada Ltd. and moved to Calgary, Canada. She was responsible for running one of Canada’s largest publicly traded companies. In mid 2004, Cook was named executive director for Royal Dutch Petroleum and returned to the Netherlands in her current capacity.

She is a member of the China Development Forum, the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the board of directors for the Boeing Co.

Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies. With 104,000 employees in more than 110 countries, we play a key role in helping to meet the world’s growing demand for energy in economically, environmentally and socially responsible ways.

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read more: 

www.ft.com

www.shell.com

http://www.peterhorn.dk/ExecutiveMagazine/Stoppress/080710_shell_linda_cook_in_race_for_ceo_position.asp

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