Rob Routs
Executive Director Oil Sands, Oil Products and Chemicals
Responsibilities
- Oil Products
- Chemicals
- Trading
- Europe
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding Nigeria)
- Canada
Background
Rob Routs received a Masters of Chemical Engineering degree from the Technical University of Eindhoven in Holland in 1969. Following a research assignment at the University of Stockholm medical facility, he returned to the Technical University of Eindhoven, where he obtained a Ph.D. in Technical Sciences in 1971.
Rob joined the Royal Dutch/Shell Group later that year at the Research Centre in Amsterdam and transferred to the Exploration and Production group in 1976.
He joined Shell Canada in 1978 at the Montreal East Refinery and transferred to the Scotford Refinery at Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta in 1987. In 1989, he returned to the Montreal East Refinery as General Manager, Manufacturing, Quebec. In 1991, he completed a senior management business development program at Harvard Business School. In 1993, he became Vice President, Manufacturing and Distribution, Shell Canada, and relocated to Calgary. Crude Oil and Products Supply was added to his organization in 1995.
Rob was appointed as President Shell Canada Oil Products in 1996. He was transferred to The Hague in the Netherlands to head up Shell International’s Research and Technology Services Group in Oil Products (Shell Global Solutions) in 1999.
He became President and Chief Executive Officer Equilon Enterprises LLC in April 2000. At the time, Equilon Enterprises LLC was a joint venture of Shell Oil Company and Texaco Inc., combining major elements of their western and midwestern U.S. refining and marketing businesses and their nation-wide trading, transportation and lubricants businesses. Products were marketed under the Shell and Texaco brands. In 2001, Rob accepted the chair position of the API Downstream Committee.
On Shell’s acquisition of the Texaco ownership in Equilon, Rob became President and CEO of Shell Oil Products U.S. in February 2002. Its ownership is comprised of: 100% of Equilon, 50% of Motiva and 50% of the Deer Park Refining Limited Partnership. He also assumed the roles of President of Shell Oil Company and Country Chair for Shell in the U.S. in September 2002. Rob was also a member of the Shell Oil Company Board of Directors.
Rob became a Group Managing Director and joined the Committee Managing Directors (CMD) in July 2003.
He became Executive Director Downstream on 27 October 2004.
Personal
Rob and his wife, Janicke, have one son and five daughters. His personal interests are opera, theatre, and tennis. He speaks English, Dutch, French, German and, to a lesser degree, Swedish and Italian.
Related links
Finding Energy in Diversity
Speech given by Rob Routs, Executive Director Downstream (Oil Products and Chemicals) Royal Dutch Shell plc, 1 October 2007 at EPCA (European Petrochemical Association) Annual Meeting 2007 in Berlin.
The Energy Revolution
Rob Routs, Executive Director Downstream of Royal Dutch Shell plc, at the Apeldoorn conference, 07 June 2007 in The Hague.
New Powertrain Technologies
Rob Routs, Executive Director Downstream of Royal Dutch Shell plc, at Fuelling the Automotive Future at the AutoRAI 2007, 28 March 2007 in Amsterdam.
