With all the literature available to introduce Shell and its core businesses, have you ever been asked to introduce Shell?

Yes, often enough! Shell is an integrated energy company going all the way from exploration and production, refining, chemicals, petrochemicals, marketing and transport to the more recent “renewables”.
As one of the world’s leading energy multinationals, Shell has companies in more than 140 countries and in almost every sector of the energy industry. It directly employs more than 100,000 people – 90% are local citizens, working in their home countries. Shell activities create hundreds of thousands more jobs in supplier and contractor companies.
Shell invests more than $10 billion dollars every year in new businesses and spends many times more maintaining and expanding its existing operations. More than 20 million customers use Shell petrol stations every day and Shell products power and lubricate increasing numbers of cars, trucks, airplanes, ships and trains. Shell companies also provide gas for cooking, heating and power generation. The company’s investment in renewables indicates that Shell is thinking of more reliable and environment-friendly sources of energy for the future.
We are in an age of mergers, acquisitions and ambitious policies for the 21st century. What is Shell doing to get ahead in the competition, particularly in the Middle East region?
Already big enough, Shell believes that it does not need a merger at this stage. If there is an extremely attractive opportunity, the company will review that but it is not a major drive at the moment. We currently have more than enough opportunities inside Shell to develop value. Therefore, we prefer to concentrate on developing that value which has been gathered in the company rather than being distracted by ambitions of another company. I think motivations vary from one company to another.
Shell is quite unique among all other international energy companies. It is by far the largest single operator of oil and gas industries. Other companies conduct a large part of their operations in joint ventures.
Of all international oil companies, again Shell is the most active in the Middle East region. That has provided us with a very large amount of experience which is directly transferable to Iran. As a result, I believe that we can offer NIOC something unique in both operational and technical senses. For example, the technical operations on reservoirs that Shell is presently leading in Oman are immediately comparable to what is being done in Iran.

What’s the latest news on the next Shell-NIOC agreement?

There is currently a very lively debate going on and it is not for me to predict when that comes to a conclusion. One thing I have learned through my many years in the Middle East is to have patience and be very careful when predicting what is going to happen in the next few months. I think that the Iranian government is carefully tailor-making each contract to bring greater benefits to the country, and that is how it should be. But care must be taken not to make them all the same, because one project is not the same as the other project. For instance, the Soroosh-Nowrooz project which is delivering an offshore development package is quite different from redevelopment of an existing onshore field. However, I am glad to say that the incentives and the possibilities are there.

Iran is more than willing to become a gas exporter. Do you see prospects of Shell cooperating with Iran in marketing and exporting gas?

Shell is already doing that in many countries. We are marketing gas either directly or on behalf of governments. We have submitted a gas utilization study to the Iranian authorities. The proposal for this study which is yet to be confirmed, aims at identifying how best Iran’s immense gas resources can be developed. For gas, it is very important to determine what markets are available. In the end, the Iranian government will have to make some key decisions as to what international markets it should address considering the price, costs of delivery, potential buyers and other suppliers. There is a very important chain between production, marketing and transmitting gas. That chain has to be established here.

How do you describe what Iran and Shell can offer each other?

The striking thing about Iran is being blessed with an immense wealth of hydrocarbon resources. That is a great situation to be in. What we can offer to Iran is an international perspective, advanced technology, long experience of operating in this region, modern project management systems and techniques. Iran can benefit from this kind of support to ultimately run its own business. In return, an international oil company can benefit from its presence in Iran.