O’Neill Leaves Woodside to Become BP CEO

BP PLC on Tuesday announced the resignation of Murray Auchincloss as chief executive and the appointment of Meg O’Neill as his replacement, in the oil and gas giant’s third CEO change in two years.

BP opened higher on the London Stock Exchange at GBX 426.15 on the day after the confirmation of the fresh leadership shakeup.

Woodside Energy Group Ltd separately confirmed O’Neill’s resignation as CEO and announced Liz Westcott, the Australian company’s current executive vice president and chief operating officer for domestic activities, as acting CEO.

Auchincloss, who also resigned as BP board director on Tuesday, said in an online statement published by the British company, “When Albert [Manifold] became chair [in October], I expressed my openness to step down were an appropriate leader identified who could accelerate delivery of BP’s strategy”, Auchincloss said. “I am confident that BP is now well positioned for significant growth and I look forward to watching the company’s future progress and success under Meg’s leadership”.

Auchincloss took over as BP CEO January 2024. He initially served in that position on an interim basis when he replaced Bernard Looney, who resigned in the third quarter of 2023 following BP’s investigation into Looney’s personal relationships with colleagues.

Just October this year, BP appointed a new chair in Manifold following the resignation of Helge Lund.

O’Neill’s takeover from Auchincloss will take effect April 1, 2026. Carol Howle, BP’s current executive vice president for supply, trading and shipping, has been named interim CEO. Auchincloss will serve in an advisory role until December 2026 “to ensure a smooth transition”, BP said.

BP said O’Neill’s appointment followed a search process overseen by a search committee at its board with help from an unnamed independent recruitment firm, “as part of the board’s long-term succession planning”.

BP noted, “Since her appointment as CEO in 2021, Meg O’Neill has grown Woodside Energy into the largest energy company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Among her many accomplishments at Woodside Energy, she oversaw the transformative acquisition of BHP Petroleum International, creating a geographically diverse business with a portfolio of high-quality oil and gas assets. Before joining Woodside Energy in 2018, Meg spent 23 years at ExxonMobil in technical, operational and leadership positions around the world”.

Manifold said of O’Neill, “Her proven track record of driving transformation, growth and disciplined capital allocation makes her the right leader for BP. Her relentless focus on business improvement and financial discipline gives us high confidence in her ability to shape this great company for its next phase of growth and pursue significant strategic and financial opportunities”.

“Following a comprehensive succession planning process, the board believes this transition creates an opportunity to accelerate our strategic vision to become a simpler, leaner and more profitable company”, Manifold added.

“Progress has been made in recent years, but increased rigor and diligence are required to make the necessary transformative changes to maximize value for our shareholders”.

On February 26 BP announced a strategy “reset” that would see it increase investment in oil and gas, lower investment in the energy transition and cut costs.

Under the new plan, BP expects to grow oil and gas investment to about $10 billion a year while cutting transition investment to $1.5-2 billion per annum, lower by around $5 billion a year than the previous guidance. The new strategy targets to raise fossil fuel production to 2.3-2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2030, with plans for further growth through 2035.

O’Neill said, “BP plays a critical role in delivering energy to customers around the world. I am honored to serve as the company’s next CEO. With an extraordinary portfolio of assets, bp has significant potential to reestablish market leadership and grow shareholder value”.

Woodside chair Richard Goyder congratulated O’Neill on her appointment at BP, saying, “Meg leaves Woodside in a strong position, having led the company through the merger with BHP Petroleum, final investment decision on the Scarborough Energy Project, startup of the Sangomar Project, final investment decision for the Louisiana LNG Project, the Beaumont New Ammonia acquisition, introduction of a number of high quality partners in those projects and continued high performance across Woodside’s global operations portfolio”.

Goyder added, “Liz’s appointment as acting CEO provides strong continuity for our business and its people”.

Woodside expects to announce a CEO appointment in the first quarter of 2026.

“The board’s ongoing focus on CEO succession planning means Woodside is fortunate to have a number of highly qualified internal candidates as we also assess external talent options to ensure the best possible CEO appointment”, Goyder said.

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