Shell flies to Rotterdam the week of a global energy crisis warning

Shell flew from Stapleford Aerodrome to Rotterdam The Hague Airport on June 11, a 46-minute hop in its Dassault Falcon 7X (VQ-BXH). The short flight from the UK to the Netherlands, where Shell maintains its global headquarters, landed the same week its chief executive delivered a stark warning about the state of world energy markets.

The same week, Shell CEO Wael Sawan told a Wall Street Journal summit that the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has caused disruptions "never seen before," per a report from CNA. Sawan said more than 10 percent of global oil production has been removed from the market, and restoring equilibrium will take "close to a year, if not longer," as covered by Reuters. The trip comes as Shell navigates the fallout from the Middle East conflict and works to repair damage at the Ras Laffan LNG hub in Qatar.

Shell's corporate aviation arm has been unusually active this week, with the Falcon 7X making multiple hops between London-area airfields and Rotterdam, as well as a longer flight from Windhoek, Namibia, on June 11. That Namibian leg follows Shell's announcement of a promising new oil discovery in the Orange Basin, per Offshore Energy, underscoring the company's dual focus: managing a crisis in existing supply while hunting for new reserves.