After 20 years of company, Rooney retires from the company. Ricardo Rodríguez will replace him in office starting next August.

It was a surprise during the Energy Day organized by the Río Negro newspaper: the president of Shell Argentina, Sean Rooney, will leave the number one chair in the country.

Rooney announced that he is retiring from this position and that Ricardo Rodríguez will replace him as of next August.

The executive held the main position at Shell Argentina since 2018 and has been with the company for more than 20 years.

There he served as Vice President of Government Relations and Vice President of New Business Development for Royal Dutch Shell. He led business development in the Netherlands, Russia, China, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Argentina, among other countries in Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

The future of Shell Argentina

According to what was reported in the media, when making the announcement he continued: “We still have to grow, we are fully drilling to fill the Sierras Blancas plant and accelerating the development of Bajada de Añelo. But the important thing is not production but to do it cleanly and sure.”

Rooney confirmed that the pipeline being built by the oil company, some 100 kilometers long with the capacity to transport 120,000 barrels per day, will be operational in October. It will link the Sierras Blancas field with the town of Allen in Rio Negro and will be key for other operators in the Basin.

According to statements published by El Economista, the president of Shell also assured that the expansion of the transportation capacity in Vaca Muerta is vital.

“We need the expansion of the pipelines because we are accelerating the production of all the Vaca Muerta operators,” he said. And he emphasized, in turn, the need to unify the price of oil in the local market with the international reference price.

“The difference with the international price is a problem for the full development of Vaca Muerta and until this is resolved, it will not be achieved. But the great results and the good characteristics of the rock generate great expectations and for this reason development is on the rise.” Rooney said.

Shell: who is Ricardo Rodriguez?
Ricardo Rodríguez, born in Venezuela, is a chemical engineer with an extensive career in the upstream (exploration and production) in the United States.

He has been working at Shell for more than 20 years and will take over as Shell’s Country Chair for Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.

In his more than 20 years with the company, Rodríguez has held positions in different Upstream.