Woodside Energy has announced it will reveal a permanent chief executive officer by the end of March, following the unexpected departure of long-serving leader Meg O'Neill late last year.
Leadership Transition Underway
The oil and gas giant confirmed its timeline for appointing a new CEO in its fourth-quarter production update released on Wednesday. This move comes after Ms O'Neill shocked investors in December by announcing her exit to take up a role leading global energy behemoth BP in London.
Her appointment at BP marks a historic moment, as she becomes the first woman to lead one of the world's major energy groups. Since her departure, Liz Westcott, Woodside's head of Australian operations, has been serving as acting CEO.
Scarborough Project Progress
The new CEO will step into the role as Woodside, headquartered in Perth, nears completion of its massive $16 billion Scarborough LNG project off Western Australia's North West coast.
According to the quarterly update, the Scarborough project and its associated Pluto Train 2 development are on budget and 94 per cent complete as of the end of 2025. First cargo remains scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026.
Just two weeks ago, Woodside celebrated the arrival of a huge floating production unit over the remote gas fields, located nearly 400 kilometres off the coast. This 70,000-tonne semi-submersible structure will process gas from Scarborough once connected to the project's wells and pipelines.
The processed gas will then be piped to the expanded Pluto LNG plant at Karratha for liquefaction before export to international buyers.
Production Performance
Despite a slight production dip in the final three months of 2025, Woodside indicated it is likely to exceed its full-year guidance for the year. Preliminary results suggest production reached 198.8 million barrels of oil equivalent for the twelve-month period.
This figure surpasses the company's earlier forecast range of 192 to 197 million barrels of oil equivalent. Unit costs are expected to remain within guidance parameters, while full-year sales are projected to be slightly lower than the previous year at just under $US13 billion.
The leadership transition and project milestones come at a critical time for Australia's energy sector as companies navigate evolving market conditions and environmental considerations.
