The Anglo-Dutch organisation has agreed to continue occupying 1.275 million square feet of office space at a two-building site in downtown Houston, Texas, a city generally regarded as the capital of the US energy industry.
Shell reportedly spent around three-and-a-half years evaluating its office space options in Houston before committing to a new 15-year lease on two buildings named after its business. Numbers 1 and 2 at Shell Plaza will now be home to the company’s Texan employees until 2025.
“I am happy the transaction successfully concluded in one of the most recognised landmark buildings in the city, if not the country, that is still in the 100 per cent location of Houston’s CBD,” said Tim Relyea, from Cushman & Wakefield, who represented Shell in its negotiations with Shell Plaza’s landlord Hines.
One Shell Plaza is 50 storeys tall and boasts 1.23 million square feet of office space, while its sister site contains 567,000 sqft of Houston offices. Both buildings were constructed in the early 1970s and have a ‘Gold’ rating for sustainability performance under the LEED system.
“We are excited about securing our future in the heart of downtown Houston,” said Jeri Ballard, a Shell vice president for strategy. “Shell remains committed to strengthening Houston as a vibrant commercial hub.”
“Our lease renewal with Hines offers a great opportunity for Shell and its employees to demonstrate our commitment to energy and water conservation and to sustainable practices.”
Shell Oil is the second-largest energy company and the fifth-largest business in the world. Its official headquarters are in the Dutch city of The Hague, while its other principal offices are in central London.
Editor’s notes: As of May 2024, Shell was still in occupation at One Shell Plaza at 910 Louisiana Street and Two Shell Plaza at 777 Walker Street.
In 2012, Enterprise Products Partners, owned by Dan Duncan’s family, Houston’s wealthiest man, bought the two buildings for $550 million.
In August 2011, it was reported that Shell had sold most of its London headquarters to make way for a mixed-use development called Southbank Place.
In January 2024, Shell was the seventh-largest company in the world by revenue, with $365.29 billion in revenue, and the fourth-largest energy company.
In September 2026, Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Aramco was the world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas company, with a market capitalisation of $1.68 trillion.
Shell was the 4th largest with a market capitalisation of $274.84 billion.
At the same time, the world’s largest publicly traded company was California-based Nvidia, a developer of graphics processors and chipsets for personal computers and game consoles, with a market capitalisation of $5.55 trillion.
In August 2026, it was reported that Shell had placed its current 1.5 million-square-foot U.S. headquarters at 150 North Dairy Ashford Road known as its Woodcreek office campus located in the Energy Corridor along Katy Freeway, on the market.
Working with JLL, Shell was understood to be seeking at least $325 million and planned to lease back part of the property for 15 years so a new owner could upgrade the rest.
As of September 2026, BP’s North American headquarters at 501 Westlake Park Boulevard in Houston.