Brown is one of Shell's top ranking executives on an executive committee of seven people under Ben van Beurden, who took over as chief executive at the beginning of the year and who last week warned that fourth quarter profits would be below his expectations.

During his recuperation and until his return to work, Maarten Wetselaar, executive vice president of Integrated Gas and former head of finance for the upstream international division that Brown heads, will take Brown's place, in addition to carrying out his regular duties, Shell said.

(Reporting by Andrew Callus; Editing by Sylvia Antonioli)