Shell halves inexperienced spending as boss Wael Sawan eyes ‘obscene’ £15m pay bonanza

Shell’s chief executive was paid £8.6million in 2024 – and could scoop as much as £15m this year.

Wael Sawan saw his take-home pay rise 9 per cent last year from £7.9million in 2023.

The oil giant has handed him £16.5million since he took the job two years ago and the total could nearly double to £31.5million this year.

The figures were published as Sawan, 50, yesterday unveiled plans to return more cash to shareholders, cut costs and accelerate Shell’s shift away from green energy.

At an investor strategy update in New York, Sawan yesterday said Shell will halve investment in low-carbon energy from 20 per cent to 10 per cent by 2030. 

It comes as the oil and gas major attempts to close its valuation gap with American rivals Chevron and Exxon Mobil. 

Pay hike: Shell boss Wael Sawan (pictured) has unveiled plans to return more cash to shareholders, cut costs and accelerate Shell’s shift away from green energy

London-listed Shell and competitor BP had previously pivoted away from fossil fuels to focus on the green transition. 

The move proved to be unpopular with investors and saw the firms fall behind US-listed oil and gas giants.

In a bid to narrow the gap, Sawan swiftly scrapped the shift to renewables when he took the reins in 2023. 

BP was slower off the mark and only ditched its green strategy earlier this year – a delay that has seen it lag further behind Shell.

‘Shell is already streets ahead of BP in putting clean energy projects at the back of the queue and focusing on fossil fuels,’ said Russ Mould, investment director at broker AJ Bell.

But environmental campaigners yesterday said Sawan’s pay was ‘obscene’.

Global Witness investigations lead Patrick Galey said: ‘It’s maddening to know that Big Oil bosses like Sawan are raking it in as they double down on the oil and gas that’s fuelling climate devastation.’

Sawan has previously said he will look at ‘all options’ to boost Shell’s valuation, including moving its stock market listing to the US in what would be a hammer blow to the City.

The company will increase distributions to shareholders from 30 per cent to 40 per cent of cash flow from operations to between 40 per cent to 50 per cent. 

Shell will continue to prioritise share buybacks and aim to pay a dividend of 4 per cent a year. It hopes to slash costs by up to £5.4billion by the end of 2028, having previously targeted £2.3billion in savings by the end of this year.

Shares in Shell rose around 2 per cent to hit a seven-month high of 2805p during trading yesterday, eventually closing at 2765p.

Biraj Borkhataria, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said: ‘It’s important to take a step back and consider that since new management has come in, Shell’s share price has outperformed its peer group handily.’