The chief executives of Australia’s two largest oil and gas producers have predicted that soaring energy prices could last for decades as multiple nations turn their backs on Russian supplies, sending huge energy importers desperately scrambling for alternatives amid a dearth of options.

The change in the world’s energy dynamics as a result of the Ukraine war felt like a change “that will be with us for decades”, said Woodside Petroleum CEO Meg O’Neill, who came under fire last year for sanctioning the new $16.5 billion Scarborough project in Western Australia to supply gas now in extremely high demand.