Tension didn’t lead to Peter Coleman’s Woodside exit, says Richard Goyder
Woodside chair Richard Goyder has rejected any suggestion that tensions with outgoing chief executive Peter Coleman led to his early departure
Woodside Petroleum chairman Richard Goyder has rejected any suggestion that tensions with outgoing chief executive Peter Coleman led to his early departure from the oil and gas major, but conceded the search for a new Woodside boss has been “slightly clunkier” than the ideal due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Woodside announced Mr Coleman’s early departure on Tuesday, along with the appointment of development and marketing vice president Meg O’Neill to an acting chief executive role until a permanent CEO is anointed.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mr Goyder rejected suggestions that Ms O’Neill’s appointment in an acting role is effectively a probationary period before she wins the job on a permanent basis, describing it as a “massive step up” from her current position.
“We are certainly looking forward to seeing Meg in the role,” he said.
“We know what we are looking for in an incoming CEO and Meg is clearly a strong candidate and there are others, and we will make a decision in due course on that. But she is not on training wheels, she is acting CEO and she knows that.”
Mr Coleman said he believed the CEO transition had been “seamless”.
“I needed to move on and Woodside also needed to have new fresh leadership as we move into this next phase – not just the growth of Scarborough but also into energy transition. I set up a team here that’s well positioned to do that. In Meg I had someone I saw I could depend on specifically to be a candidate to replace me,” he said.
“So as Richard and I sat down and talked about it, we came up with a plan that meets the company’s needs, meets my needs, and gives the opportunity for Meg. And whilst externally it may look unusual, it is working beautifully within Woodside and within the Woodside family, and we are a family.”
The next Woodside boss will present plans for the $16bn Scarborough gas project to the company’s board to sanction a final investment decision, by the end of the year, and Mr Goyder said that while the incoming CEO would review the plans the board had no intention of letting the CEO search slow down the Scarborough process.
“In terms of the mandate for the CEO, there is no one I can imagine coming in as CEO who wouldn’t be saying to me and the board ‘are you giving me a mandate to have a good look at Woodside and come up with appropriate strategies?’” he said.
“Indeed Meg has said that to me prior to the announcement we made this week, and that’s what we would expect.”
Woodside shares closed down 28c, or 1.2 per cent on Friday, at $24.07.
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