As President of Shell Oil Company, Gretchen Watkins oversees the strategic integration of all Shell businesses in the United states and leads the US Country Coordination Team.

Since being named to this post in January 2019, she has become the company's leading voice in the engagement of public and private leaders across a wide range of energy-related policy and societal challenges. In addition to these responsibilities, Gretchen serves as Executive Vice President of Shell's Upstream Unconventionals business, overseeing the exploration, development, and production of Shell's unconventional oil and gas portfolio, which includes assets in the US, Canada, and Latin America.

Before joining Shell in July 2018, Gretchen served as the Chief Executive Officer of Maersk Oil. Appointed CEO in October 2016 following two years as Chief Operating Officer, Gretchen's tenure at Maersk coincided with a low-price environment for oil, but under her leadership the company delivered above-target operational and financial results. Upon sale of the business to Total in August 2017, she delivered deal closure and a safe and successful transition to the new enterprise. Gretchen began her career nearly 30 years ago as a Facilities Engineer for Amoco in the Gulf of Mexico. She then worked as a Trading Manager for Amoco and BP before commencing an international career that has included a variety of senior executive roles at BP, Marathon Oil, and Maersk Oil in North America, Europe, and Asia. She has led joint ventures and negotiated contracts with countries and companies across the upstream, midstream, and downstream businesses. Gretchen served as a non-executive director for Atkins, a global engineering consultancy and FTSE 200 company from 2014 until its merger with SNC Lavalin in 2017.

Gretchen graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and has had executive education at Cambridge and Stanford Universities.