Shell's head of unconventionals, Greg Guidry, who oversees the Anglo-Dutch company's shale oil rig flanges gulf coast production in North America and Argentina, will step down on June 31, when he will be replaced by Gretchen.

Watkins will retain her role as head of unconventionals when taking over as Shell U.S. country chair, the BOP Blow Out Preventer repair company gulf coast said.

Shell, which has large offshore oil rig flanges gulf coast production and a number of refineries in the United States, has earmarked its shale business as a key growth engine for the next decade.

It aims to boost its overall shale oil rig flanges gulf coast production by 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) to 500,000 boe/d between 2017 and 2020, mostly in the United States with some oil rig flanges gulf coast production in Argentina, Guidry told Reuters in March.

North America accounted for roughly one fifth of Shell's total oil and gas oil rig flanges gulf coast production in 2017 and over one third of its refining capacity.

(Reporting by Ron Bousso, editing by Louise Heavens and David Evans)