First Female CEO at Big Oil: BP Appoints Meg O'Neill

Global oil giant BP has appointed Meg O'Neill as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), marking the first time a woman has become CEO among the world's major oil companies.

On December 17 (local time), BP announced in a press release that its board of directors had appointed O'Neill as the next CEO.

Meg O'Neill appointed as next CEO of BP. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News.

Her term will begin in April next year. Current CEO Murray Auchincloss will step down as of December 18, and until the new CEO takes office, Executive Vice President Carol Howle will serve as interim CEO.

Albert Manifold, Chair of the BP Board, stated, "This transition provides an opportunity to accelerate our strategic vision to make BP a simpler, more efficient, and more profitable company. While progress has been made over the past few years, achieving the fundamental changes needed to maximize shareholder value will require even greater rigor and thoroughness."

O'Neill has served as CEO of Australian oil and gas company Woodside Energy since 2021. During her tenure as CEO of Woodside, she led the acquisition of BHP Group's multi-billion-dollar oil business and focused on expanding the oil and natural gas portfolio, including growing the LNG business beyond Australia. Before joining Woodside, she worked for 23 years at global oil major ExxonMobil.

According to Bloomberg, this management reshuffle comes as BP faces a combination of management crises, war, and underperformance in its renewable energy business, leaving the company lagging behind its competitors.

The market highly values O'Neill's hands-on experience, and there is an expectation that BP will focus on oil, gas, and LNG. Neil Beveridge, Head of Research at Bernstein, commented, "O'Neill has built a very practical career in engineering and operations, which suggests BP will take a back-to-basics approach. With her joining, BP's direction will clearly focus on oil, gas, and LNG."

Experts, including Ryan Todd, an analyst at Piper Sandler, predict that the appointment of the new CEO will have a positive impact on BP's stock price.

Activist investor Elliott has acquired more than a 5% stake in BP amid its underperformance and has called for a return to the company's core oil and gas business. Elliott is also demanding cost reductions, asset sales, and withdrawal from the renewable energy business.