The company is no exception, with Ms O’Neill becoming the first woman to lead a large international oil company, thanks to the appointment of a new chief executive at BP. The London energy giant stated that its existing leader Murray Auchincloss would retire less than two years after appointment if the CEO Bernard Looney, who was discovered guilty of engaging in serious misconduct by not reporting relations with his colleagues.
Carl Howle, the executive Vice President of BP, will act as interim chief executive, pending the occupation of the new position by Ms O’Neil, who has been in charge of Australian-based energy company Woodside Energy since 2021. According to Ms O’Neill, she looks forward to assisting the BP chairman in September 2024, and had informed the BP chairman in September that he was ready to leave should he find an appropriate person to replace.
“I am confident that BP is now well positioned for significant growth, and I look forward to watching the company’s future progress,” he said.
The announcement of the appointment of Ms O Neill led him to say that he believed BP was now well equipped to go through tremendous growth, and he would be watching the company develop. He shall work as an advisor up to December 2026. Ms O’Neill cited that strengthening the leadership position of the oil giant in the market, safety development and driving innovations and sustainability are among the priorities she would make.
BP lauded the tenure of Ms O’Neill as the chief executive officer of Woodside Energy after being involved in the buying of BHP Petroleum international in 2022. It stated that she had expanded the company to be the largest energy company on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Before joining Woodside, Ms O’Neill had worked in the technical, operational and leadership roles in the ExxonMobil oil company based in Texas for 23 years. Mr Looney lost up to 32.4m of his salary plus other benefits without receiving warning and losing his job, he told the court that he was not entirely transparent on his previous relationships with his personal lives.
According to the board, Mr Looney said that he was disappointed with the manager in how this situation was managed. The hiring of Ms O’Neill follows the reduction in investments in renewable energy that BP is making and instead concentrates on expanding oil and gas output.
In February, the energy giant indicated that it would change its direction after some of its investors were harbouring frustration since its bottom line and share price had trailed behind competitors. The competitors Shell and Norwegian firm Equinor have similarly reduced their plans to invest in green energy, and the US President Donald Trump’s call to “drill baby drill” has emboldened them to invest in fossil fuels.
