Shell CEO seeing economic stabilization

DALLAS (Reuters) - The chief executive officer of oil major Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) said on Tuesday he is seeing small signs that the U.S. and European economies are leveling.

"At this moment, what we see in the United States and Europe is lower, but I think we are starting to see stabilization," Jeroen van der Veer, Shell's CEO told Reuters outside a meeting of the Business Council.

The executive said he has seen an improvement since February, when most oil executives thought the global economy was contracting.

Shell, which has big operations in the United States, is also encouraged by President Barack Obama's early efforts to shape energy policy.

"We think it is a very helpful start," van der Veer said. "The eyes of the Administration certainly have been on energy and environment, and we like that at Shell."

(Reporting by Anna Driver; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)