Frans Smits has been assigned by EBN (Energie Beheer Nederland) to the Porthos well engineering team since 2021. This team is responsible for designing and delivering the CO2 injection wells of the first large scale offshore Carbon Capture and Storage project in the Netherlands.   

Frans graduated from the University of Delft with a MSc in Petroleum Engineering. After his national service in the Royal Netherlands Navy, he joined Shell, for whom he worked around the world in various well engineering positions for 30 years. His most recent position for Shell was Well Engineering Manager for Shell Global Solutions (in The Hague) and working for energy projects in Europe and West Africa. During this period Frans also was a Technical Authority for well design standards and chair of the global well design specialists network.