How BP’s new boss became the most powerful woman in fossil fuels

Meg O'Neill's rapid rise to the top of one of the world's biggest fossilfuel companies has been unencumbered by doubt.

- Bloomberg

At a moment when oil executives are still being pressed to move away from hydrocarbons, she has a different argument: that the world is nowhere near done with them.So when BP Plc stunned markets by naming an external chief executive officer for the first time, the choice of O'Neill signalled more than a leadership change. It marked a recalibration for BP, bruised by a failed pivot towards renewable energy, years of uneven financial performance, and pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management to return the company to its core oil and gas focus.

O'Neill, who has led Australian oil and gas giant Woodside Energy Group Ltd since 2021, arrives with a reputation for operational rigour and a belief that natural gas, particularly liquefied natural gas, is a longterm necessity. To supporters, she is exactly the leader BP needs. To critics, she represents an industry choosing regression over reinvention.

"Her appointment as CEO seems well-aligned with BP's reversal from green energy back to core oil and gas profitability," said Susan Sakmar, a University of Houston Law Center visiting assistant professor and expert on the oil and gas market. "Good news for BP."

She takes on her new role amid a wider political split over energy. US President Donald Trump's revived "drill, baby, drill" mantra and promises to roll back years of climate rules that, he argues, drove up energy costs have led to a renewed emphasis on oil and gas. And while Asian consumers are hungry for more fossil fuels, BP in Europe faces a different reality of tougher carbon-reduction mandates, stricter disclosure rules and regulatory pressures to show progress towards cutting emissions.

O'Neill will have to navigate both worlds at once.