Woodside revamps leadership team as former BHP exec Shiva McMahon departs
The former head of finance at BHP, Shiva McMahon, will leave Woodside after the oil and gas giant announced a revamped and streamlines executive team.
The former head of finance at BHP will leave Woodside after the oil and gas giant announced a revamped executive team that it says will combine core business activities into a simplified operating model.
The exit of Shiva McMahon, a former vice-president of finance for BHP Petroleum, is the highest-profile casualty of the restructuring. Matthew Ridolfi, executive vice-president of projects, will also depart though he will remain as an adviser to chief executive Meg O’Neill.
The restructure had long been in the works as Woodside incorporated executives from BHP following the $40bn merger of the two giants.
Ms O’Neill thanked both Ms McMahon and Mr Ridolfi.
“Shiva and Matthew have been outstanding members of Woodside’s leadership team, delivering strong results across Woodside’s expanded global operations and projects portfolio,” Ms O’Neill said.
“Shaun will continue to provide valuable leadership and expertise as we integrate Wood-side’s growing new energy business across our value chain.”
Ms O’Neill said the changes, however, would streamline the oversight of operations.
“We are also consolidating operations and project delivery in a regional model to drive a strong focus on safety, efficient decision making, and effective business execution,” she said.
“Our new executive team balances continuity with change, adding new capabilities and streamlining accountabilities.”
Woodside’s desire to streamline operations comes as several critical growth projects reach or approach production.
This month, Woodside said it had achieved first oil from the Sangomar field offshore from Senegal.
Last year, Woodside said it had decided to proceed with the $US7.2bn ($10.8bn) deep water oil project in the Gulf of Mexico, which it expects to begin production in 2028.
Woodside said the final investment decision on Trion, of which it said its share would cost $US4.8bn ($7.2bn), made financial sense because it has such large oil reserves, delivering lucrative returns for shareholders.
Woodside said the project will deliver a rate of return of more than 16 per cent and the payback period will be less than four years.
Domestically, Woodside is also pushing ahead with its $16.5bn Scarborough LNG development in WA.
The expansion, Ms O’Neill said, will allow Woodside to capitalise on the near-term demand for energy in Asian countries but it has made the company the target of environmentalists, who accuse the company of delaying meaningful action to address climate change.
Ms O’Neill said gas was displacing coal, and that would help make a tangible difference to global carbon emissions.
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