March 12, 2024 [Reuters]- Shell’s (SHEL.L), opens new tab head of liquefied natural gas (LNG), natural gas and power trading Steve Hill is leaving the company, Shell said on Monday.

Hill chose to leave, Shell said, adding he would hand over his responsibilities and his successor would be announced in the coming weeks. He will step down on March 28.

Hill joined Shell in 2016 following the $53 billion acquisition of rival BG Group. He has headed Shell Energy, which oversees business-to-business LNG, gas and power trading, part of the company’s downstream division.

Shell is the world’s largest LNG trader, accounting for nearly 17% of global LNG trading volumes of 404 million metric tons in 2023, according to company data.

Shell’s LNG trading operations saw change earlier this year when Tom Summers was appointed, opens new tab in January as head of the division under Hill.

The trading division delivered huge profits in recent years, benefiting from volatility in the gas markets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Shell’s LNG business made a profit of $2.4 billion, around one third of the company’s overall profit, sources told Reuters last month.

But not all the bets paid off. Reuters reported in November 2022 that Shell’s trading division recorded a loss of nearly $1 billion in the third quarter.

Shell did not say what Hill would next and he did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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