By Rajasik Mukherjee
March 18 (Reuters) – Australia’s Woodside Energy on Wednesday named its interim chief Liz Westcott as its CEO and managing director, succeeding Meg O’Neill, who departed Australia’s largest oil and gas producer in December 2025 to take the helm at rival BP.
O’Neill’s surprise exit came after more than four years in the top job at Woodside. Under Meg’s charge, Woodside merged with BHP Group’s petroleum arm to create a top 10 global oil and gas producer valued at over $40 billion and doubled Woodside’s oil and gas production.
Her departure also came in the middle of Woodside’s expansion strategy into North America, betting on a pro-fossil fuel U.S. administration and growing global demand for gas, especially through its Louisiana liquefied natural gas plant.
Shares of Woodside were up nearly 1% as of 2332 GMT.
“We consider (Westcott’s) to be a low risk appointment that provides leadership skills to ensure Woodside’s suite of major operated development projects get delivered,” said Gordon Ramsay, RBC Capital Markets analyst.
The “appointment also highlights the importance of delivering high operated asset availability, which is something we believe Liz has excelled at in her prior roles.”
Westcott joined Woodside in June 2023 and has since led Woodside’s Australian operations, including the Scarborough Energy Project and Bass Strait operator transition, as executive vice president and chief operating officer, Australia.
She held top roles at ExxonMobil, where she spent 25 years of her career, working in Australia, the UK and Italy and was chief operating officer at EnergyAustralia.
Westcott steps into the top job as Woodside navigates a softer production outlook, with the company recently flagging lower output guidance for 2026 amid operational challenges and project timing uncertainties.
(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee and Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Shailesh Kuber)
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