The 57-year-old Van Loon announced her departure in February, saying she would “have fun with other things besides work.” Van Loon worked for Shell for a total of 34 years and experienced a number of turbulent years as head of the oil and gas group’s Dutch subsidiary. In 2018, for example, there was political outrage over an agreement between Shell and the tax and customs administration regarding the payment of tax on dividends. Shell’s headquarters have also moved to the UK. This made the group thoroughly British on paper.
As one of NAM’s shareholders, Shell was also responsible for years for gas extraction in Groningen, which was later revealed to cause earthquakes. On the WNL Op Zondag program, Van Loon recently said that the Groningen gas field must be completely closed this year. The company now also pays for damage repairs and reinforcement of homes in the earthquake zone.
A new course
Under Van Loon, Shell says it was also the first major group to back the climate deal. In 2021, however, Milieudefensie won a lawsuit against the group for not reducing CO2 emissions enough. Milieudefensie is therefore hoping for “a new course for Shell Nederland” with Everts as front man. In his new role, he said he wants to continue working on the energy transition.