SHELL Malaysia has appointed a Malaysian, Saw Choo Boon, as chairman from March 1. 

He will take over from Datuk Jon Chadwick, who will be moving to another senior Shell position in Asia. 

Saw would be the third Malaysian to serve as chairman of Shell Malaysia, a statement from the company said yesterday. 

He is currently vice-president of Shell Global Marine. It is understood that at Global Marine, he is involved in the management of transport and logistics services for the global Shell group. He is based in Kuala Lumpur in that position. 

After taking over as chairman, Saw will head Shell's entire operations in the country, from exploration to production through to marketing.  

Saw Choo Boon

It is perhaps for this reason that, according to the statement, Chadwick will retain some key roles in Malaysia in a personal capacity till the end of May. It is believed one of these roles will be his chairmanship of Shell Refining. 

Shell Malaysia said that as chairman, Saw would lead the company's business council in shaping it for further growth in Malaysia, and maintaining and strengthening Shell's relationship with various stakeholders. 

He will also retain his current downstream responsibilities, while serving as chairman on several boards of companies in which Shell has interests. 

A Universiti Malaya graduate, Saw joined Shell in 1970 as a refinery technologist at Shell Refining. He has served in various capacities in manufacturing, supply, trading and planning in Malaysia, Singapore and the Netherlands. 

Saw was appointed managing director of Shell MDS (M) Sdn Bhd in 1996 and two years later, as managing director of oil products (downstream) of Shell Malaysia. 

In 1999, he became vice-president for commercial business in the Asia-Pacific with the globalisation of Shell's oil products business. He was made president of Shell Oil Products East in 2004.