Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill resigns to run BP

Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill is leaving Australia’s largest oil and gas producer to take up a new job as boss of global energy major BP.

O’Neill has been appointed to succeed Murray Auchincloss on April 21 as the chief executive of London-based BP, one of the world’s biggest energy companies.

“Her proven track record of driving transformation, growth, and disciplined capital allocation makes her the right leader for BP,” said BP chair Albert Manifold in a statement.

Woodside on Thursday said Liz Westcott, who runs the company’s Australian operations, would take over as acting chief executive until a successor was found.

O’Neill has been the head of the Perth-based oil and gas giant since 2021. She has steered the company through a period of major growth, including placing significant bets on ongoing global appetite for fossil fuels, even as the world tackles climate change.

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Under her leadership, Woodside completed its acquisition of BHP’s global petroleum division, started producing oil at the Sangomar field in Senegal, and made final investment decisions to develop the Scarborough gas project in Western Australia and construct a $27 billion liquefied gas export terminal in the United States.

More to come

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