From 1990 to 2012, I held various roles at Shell, both in Legal Corporate and in Shell’s global upstream business. As (senior) counsel to Shell Exploration & Production, I supported Shell’s interest in the Russian Sakhalin II project with Japanese partners Mitsui and Mitsubishi (including a major corporate restructuring following Shell’s acquisition of Marathon’s interest in the project) as well as upstream projects in Austria, Egypt, Germany, Pakistan, the Philippines and Turkey. I further assisted in the negotiation of arrangements for, and the establishment of, a substantial incorporated technology joint venture with Haliburton. My last role at Shell included membership of the Excom of Shell’s holding company in the Netherlands, management of two legal departments in London and The Hague, and the handling of Nigeria-related litigation in the Netherlands against Shell’s stock market listed parent company and its Nigerian subsidiary.

Subsequently, from 2012 to 2017, I was Group General Counsel at, and Excom member of, stock exchange listed SBM Offshore N.V.. As legal advisor to the board, I was closely involved in SBM’s internal investigation into possible improper payments by agents of the Group, and in the subsequent, successful settlements with the Dutch public prosecutor’s office, the U.S. Department of Justice, and Petrobras and various authorities in Brazil. I was also closely involved in the resolution of the dispute concerning the Yme-platform offshore Norway, and in the subsequent insurance recovery.