The resources and energy industry has congratulated experienced professional Meg O’Neill (pictured) for her appointment to Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Woodside.
Ms O’Neill succeeds Peter Coleman who retired from Woodside in June 2021.
“Meg is an outstanding choice to lead Woodside – a pioneer of the LNG industry in Australia which has an incredibly exciting future following the historic deal to acquire BHP’s oil and gas assets,” AREEA Chief Executive Steve Knott AM said.
“AREEA has been fortunate to have Meg as a member of the AREEA Board since 2019, including as Vice President from August 2020.
“Meg’s international experience and deep understanding of the industry is critical as Australia looks to secure new multi-billion-dollar investment projects which create jobs and national economic benefits for decades.
“Meg is an outstanding intellect with a passion for our industry. She has exceptional stakeholder skills and is an absolute professional to work with.”
Ms O’Neill has three decades’ experience working in the global oil and gas industry and joined Woodside as Chief Operations Officer in May 2018.
She will lead Woodside – already an iconic Australian company – following its historic acquisition of BHP’s petroleum division, propelling Woodside to a top 10 global energy company.
“Meg’s proven leadership capabilities will be crucial to drive the transformation period and the many future opportunities this acquisition will create,” Mr Knott said.
The announcement coincided with news BHP’s oil and gas business would merge with Woodside, combining the two company’s high quality asset portfolios to create the largest energy company listed on the ASX, with a global top 10 position in the LNG industry by production.
Ms O’Neill said she was honoured to have the opportunity to lead Woodside at a critical time for the company.
“Woodside is a great company with an exciting future. My focus will be on delivering the significant benefits expected from the merger of Woodside and BHP’s petroleum business and continuing to reduce costs and carbon while delivering Woodside’s current projects and production,” she said.
“I look forward to working with a strong senior team to transform the way we work as we look to continually improve and evolve,” she said.
Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt welcomed the merger commitment and said it created a new “Big Australian” in the global energy business and welcomed Ms O’Neill to the new role.
“Having dealt with Ms O’Neill over the past few months since her appointment as interim CEO of Woodside, I am confident she is the right person to lead the new Woodside Energy through the challenges of a merger of this size and complexity,” Minister Pitt added.
“I look forward to working with Ms O’Neill and with Woodside Energy on the challenges and opportunities that will present themselves in our strong and resilient energy sector.”
