Q&A with Linda Cook

Abstract

Linda Cook, SPE, is Executive Director, Gas and Power, of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group. She is also responsible for Renewables and Hydrogen, Shell Global Solutions, Group Research, East Asia and Australasia. She has been a managing director of Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. since August 2004. She joined Shell after receiving a BS degree in petroleum engineering from the U. of Kansas and has worked for Shell companies in the U.S., The Netherlands, and Canada. Before becoming a group managing director, Cook was President and Chief Executive Officer of Shell Canada Ltd. She also is a Director of the Boeing Co. Demand for natural gas is surging, and gas may soon replace oil as the hydrocarbon of choice. Will the energy industry be able to keep up with the global demand? What are the challenges? Indeed, natural gas demand is surging. In fact, gas demand will grow more rapidly than oil, and the latest Shell scenarios suggest that by 2025, natural gas will meet more than 25% of the world’s energy needs. The industry is doing what it can to enable supply to keep pace with the rising demand. In general, capital budgets are increasing, as is the hiring of new graduates. For natural gas in particular, major new projects are being fast-tracked to production, especially in the area of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in a number of countries including Qatar, Russia, Nigeria, and Australia. But the challenges are significant. The engineering and construction sectors are stretched to the limit of their capabilities. Delivery times for long-lead-time equipment are lengthening. Logistics are strained in some areas. And there is a shortage of the human resources required in certain disciplines to meet the surge in natural gas demand.