REUTERS

LONDON

ROYAL Dutch Shell promoted the head of its business in Qatar to director of international exploration and production, replacing a veteran who lost the race to the top job at Europe’s largest oil company. Andrew Brown, 50, is to become director, upstream international, on April 1. Shell also said on Wednesday Malcolm Brinded, who has worked for the company since 1974, would step down as executive director, upstream international on that date.

Brown currently leads Shell’s business in Qatar, where it has spent $20 billion including on Pearl, a plant to convert natural gas into liquid fuels, and projects that when on stream will represent about 10 percent of Shell’s output.

“Andrew Brown has truly delivered in Qatar, and his promotion should bring new blood to the executive board,” said an analyst who covers Shell and declined to be identified.

Brinded has worked for Shell in Brunei, the Netherlands and Oman and is a former country chairman for Shell in the UK.

He was once seen by analysts as a possible future head of Shell, Europe’s largest oil company by market value. In 2004, he was made the head of Shell’s global exploration and production division.