Ceri Powell

The daughter of a manager at Milford Haven oil refinery (and chairman of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority),^[2] Powell grew up in Pembrokeshire and trained as a geologist.^[3] Inspired by the example of Dame May Ogilvie Gordon, one of the first female geologists,^[4] Powell studied for a BSc in geology at the University of Liverpool and then pursued a PhD (awarded in 1990), sponsored by Shell, at Cardiff University, studying inversion tectonics and the reactivation of extensional faults as Compressional thrusts.^[2]

After joining Shell (her first post was as a regional geologist in the central and southern North Sea),^[2] Powell worked in the UK, Angola, Malaysia, the Netherlands (she was appointed to head Shell's competitive intelligence team in 2000, and then became business advisor to the Shell's Upstream CEO),^[2] a ground-breaking position at the time before business advisors were the norm. She was appointed as VP exploration for the Middle East, Caspian and South Asia from 2004 to 2008, and represented Shell on boards of multiple joint ventures in the regions, including in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan.^[5] She was then made VP of Global Strategy for Shell until late 2009.^[5]

She was appointed Executive Vice President Exploration, Shell Upstream International in 2009, then in 2013 became the Global Head of Exploration.^[6] She deeply believes in a visible personal safety leadership presence - "Boots on the Ground", as demonstrated in remote operations from Albania to Myanmar.^{[citation needed]} In 2017, she was appointed as managing director of Brunei Shell Petroleum and Country Chair of Shell companies in Brunei,^[3][7] accountable for production of over 300,000boe/day, 4000 staff with 18,000 business partners, under the guidance of the chairman of BSP, Crown Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah.^{[citation needed]}

In August 2020, Powell stepped down as MD of BSP and country chair after 31 years of an international career.^{[citation needed]}