Woodside Energy tips production fall in 2026 as CEO search remains on track for decision by end of March

Australia’s biggest energy producer is tipping a fall in oil and gas production in 2026 as it completes the search for a new chief executive after the sudden departure of Meg O’Neill in December. Woodside Energy on Wednesday forecast annual production for the next 12 months would fall from a record 198.8 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2025 to between 172mboe and 186mboe. Acting chief executive Liz Westcott said the fall reflected planned down time at Woodside’s Pluto LNG plant as it was prepared to begin processing gas from the new $16 billion Scarborough project, which is on target to ship its first LNG in the December quarter. Ms Westcott has led Woodside since Ms O’Neill stunned investors in December by stepping down to head up global energy giant BP in London — becoming the first female to lead one of the world’s major energy groups. Woodside remains on track to name a replacement by the end of March, with Ms Westcott - the company’s head of Australian operations - chief commercial officer Mark Abbotsford and international boss Daniel Kalms seen as the leading internal candidates for the job. “The executive team and I remain focused on safely delivering our operations and projects while maintaining rigorous cost management during the CEO transition period,” Ms Westcott said. The new CEO will arrive as the Perth-headquartered Woodside puts the finishing touches to the huge Scarborough project, off WA’s North West coast. Woodside said in Wednesday’s December quarterly update that Scarborough and the associated Pluto expansion were on budget and 94 per cent complete at the end of 2025. Just two weeks ago Woodside heralded the arrival of Scarborough’s huge floating production unit from China over the remote gas fields, nearly 400km off the coast. Once hooked up to the project’s wells and pipelines, the 70,000-tonne semi-submersible will process gas from Scarborough before piping it to the Pluto plant at Karratha for liquefication and export to offshore buyers. Woodside said revenue for 2025 dipped 1 per cent to $US12.98b, despite a 4 per cent rise in sale volumes, as its average realised price eased 5 per cent to $US60 a barrel. With declining output from the North West Shelf, Woodside’s growing international operations in the US and West Africa now account for a record 31 per cent of total revenues. That share will grow more this year with a bigger contribution from Woodside’s new Beaumont ammonia project in Texas, which entered production in December. The development is one of several new projects being developed in the US - another is Louisiana LNG - as Woodside reduces its historical reliance on WA’s gas fields. Beaumont is forecast to contribute between 2mboe and 3mboe to Woodside’s production volumes in 2026, with the rest of the oil and gas portfolio contributing 170mboe to 183mboe. “Final project commissioning will continue through early 2026 ahead of project completion and Woodside assuming operational control,” Ms Westcott said. First commercial production will comprise conventional ammonia, with a lower-carbon product to be produced in the second half of 2026. “Woodside has finalised agreements with leading global customers to supply conventional ammonia from Beaumont. These deliveries will commence in 2026 and continue through year-end, under contracts that reflect prevailing market prices,” Ms Westcott said. Woodside’s capital expenditure for 2026 is forecast to jump back over $US4b to as much as $US4.5b, with Louisiana LNG accounting for 25 per cent of that. The foundation project of three LNG production trains is 22 per cent completed and targeting first shipments in 2029.