The new BP CEO has a long-lasting legacy at Australia's Woodside
Energy industry veteran Meg O'Neill was tapped by BP as the leader of a shake-up within the venerable London based major. She made an immediate impact when she took over at Australia's Woodside Energy and secured a deal which doubled the production portfolio.
Woodside's acquisition of BHP petroleum assets by 2021 in a merger of then-$28 billion boosted the Perth-based firm with an international presence?during an industry consolidation period, making it one of the top-10 independent global energy producers and a gas giant.
O'Neill is a '55-year old 'American' from Boulder, Colorado who leaves Woodside in 2021, after becoming CEO after three years of being chief operating officer after a long career with U.S. giant Exxon.
BP announced Wednesday that O'Neill would become CEO in April. She will be the first woman CEO to lead any of the top five oil companies around the world.
Come and see us!
She was first promoted to acting CEO in April 2020, before she was named to the position permanently that August. She brought a more 'open' approach to management to Woodside by making executive floors of its Mia Yallagonga Headquarters building accessible to staff.
Australian media reported at the time on an internal message that said "come and see us".
Former Woodside colleagues said: "She was very accessible to the staff. She had a low-ego."
One person called a graduate of the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology?an "engineer's Engineer."
O'Neill, a regular speaker at international energy events, built an increasing industry profile with Woodside's growing ambitions. This saw Woodside invest in the $7.2billion Trion oil project offshore Mexico, and take a greater?share of North West Shelf Gas Project, Australia's once largest.
O'Neill placed a large bet last year on the U.S. gas export boom, acquiring a developing company and integrating it into the $17.5 billion Louisiana project. This was part of a portfolio that heavily leaned towards gas.
Saul Kavonic of MST Marquee, an analyst who describes Meg as having a low ego, said that it was only a question of time before a major poached her.
O'Neill announced in November that Woodside would increase its sales by 50 percent by 2032, to 300 million equivalent barrels of oil. Woodside is also expanding its global trading team and attracting talent in Singapore.
O'Neill focused on purchasing barrels instead of exploring for them. He told multiple investor day audiences Woodside would concentrate its drilling work on brownfield projects to connect to existing infrastructure rather than launching new projects.
RED TAPE & FRUSTRATION
O'Neill, a straight shooter, has expressed frustration over red tape and environmental law in Australia, where projects require state and federal approval.
She said that regulations were the only thing stopping the development of the large Browse gas fields to backfill the North West Shelf LNG Facility, which is an old facility. She noted that it took seven year for the final approvals for the project to be extended by 40 years.
O'Neill has pulled back on clean energy investments. Woodside's one major project that is still in place is a Beaumont, Texas clean ammonia facility. This approach has been criticized by climate activists.
Woodside's annual May meeting was drowned out by promotional videos that promoted the company and its sponsorship of the Fremantle Dockers, an Australian Rules Football club.
O'Neill stated, "We have plenty of videos that we can show."
Investors have criticized Woodside's plans for reducing emissions as insufficient. The Climate Transition Action Plan O'Neill, developed in 2024, was voted down 58% by shareholders.
She said that sentiments were changing last month.
"I think that there is a greater awareness that as the world, even the developed countries, invest in data centres and AI, that this needs to be powered." Helen Clark reported from Perth, Sarah McFarlane contributed additional reporting and Tony Munroe edited the article.
(source: Reuters)
