The African Power Chamber (AEC) (www.EnergyChamber.org) – because the voice of Africa’s power sector – is honored to announce Meg O’Neill, CEO and Managing Director of Woodside Power, as “Power Individual of the Yr.” The award acknowledges O’Neill’s practically three a long time of expertise within the international oil and fuel trade and her unwavering dedication to making sure a simply African power transition, which has resulted in distinctive challenge supply and multi-billion-dollar investments in Africa’s oil and fuel assets.
O’Neill will obtain the award at African Power Week: Put money into African Power 2024 – the AEC’s annual occasion and the official assembly place for Africa’s power trade – going down in Cape City on November 4-8. The award is given to people who’ve made substantial contributions to the African power sector and advocated for a extra inclusive trade. O’Neill is the primary non-African to obtain the award, with earlier awardees together with the late Namibian President Hage Geingob (2023) and President and Chairman of the Board of Administrators of the African Export-Import Financial institution Benedict Oramah (2022).
Initially drawn to the oil and fuel trade by her curiosity in journey, O’Neill launched a 23-year profession with ExxonMobil, the place she held senior management roles in ExxonMobil’s Manufacturing Firm in Indonesia, Norway and Canada, in addition to served as Vice President, Africa for ExxonMobil Growth Firm, accountable for the corporate’s main tasks in Angola, Nigeria, Tanzania and Mozambique. In Could 2018, O’Neill moved to Perth to affix Woodside as COO in Could 2018 and was appointed CEO and Managing Director in August 2021, owing to her daring imaginative and prescient and confirmed management capabilities. O’Neill holds two levels in Chemical Engineering and Ocean Engineering and a Grasp’s in Ocean Programs Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Expertise.
Underneath O’Neill’s management, Woodside Power achieved a historic milestone with the manufacturing of first oil from its Sangomar Discipline Growth earlier this 12 months, ushering in a brand new period of hydrocarbon sector progress in Senegal because the nation’s first offshore oil challenge. O’Neill expertly led the well timed execution of the challenge’s first section by a interval of unprecedented international challenges and above-ground threat, together with the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant market instability. As operator, Woodside labored intently with all contractors to maximise native content material advantages, in addition to with the federal government of Senegal in selling in-country worth addition and championing an inclusive oil and fuel trade. In accordance with Woodside, the subsea set up of the challenge’s FPSO vessel was supported from Dakar and logistical provide providers have been supplied by native companies.
O’Neill can also be accountable for driving Woodside’s growth throughout the continent and to Namibia, the place the Australian exploration and manufacturing firm is presently finalizing a farm-in settlement to Petroleum Exploration License 87 within the deepwater Orange Basin. Preliminary interpretation of 3D seismic knowledge, in addition to extra discoveries by Galp within the close by Mopane Advanced, have supported the prospectivity of the acreage and positioned Woodside on the precipice of future drilling exercise.
Woodside’s commitments come at a time when international buyers are shying away from new fossil gasoline tasks, leading to stalled tasks and a scarcity of latest funding in Africa’s most potential upstream markets. In sharp distinction, Woodside has superior multi-billion-dollar deepwater tasks and answered Africa’s name for funding in its untapped oil and fuel assets, whereas nonetheless outlining a balanced power transition technique. In a latest interview, O’Neill acknowledged that trade leaders should “stand for issues that matter… There are moments when you can be examined, however performing with integrity and doing what’s proper will at all times serve you and your group nicely.” The Chamber strongly believes that African power markets not solely want, however deserve this degree of brave, no-holds-barred management from IOC heads.
“Meg O’Neill has been capable of lead and outline an organization that tells African nations, ‘When you’ve got the assets and the enabling atmosphere, then we are going to commit.’ Senegal sought funding in its offshore hydrocarbon assets, and Woodside answered with a $5-billion deepwater oil challenge. Namibia established a robust basis of secure governance and enticing fiscal phrases, and Woodside farmed right into a extremely potential petroleum play. As the pinnacle of a serious IOC, O’Neill has made Africa a strategic precedence and is a real champion of the sector, making good on her promise to double down on funding and elevate the trade to new heights,” says NJ Ayuk, Govt Chairman of the AEC.
Along with leveraging world-class technical capabilities, O’Neill is a robust supporter of social influence tasks, with a concentrate on empowering girls within the oil and fuel trade. In 2023, the corporate made practically $22 million in social contributions globally. Affirming its dedication to gender-based variety and inclusion, Woodside Power leads a “STEM in Faculties” program to advertise STEM topics to youth and open up the eyes of women and younger girls to careers within the power sector.
On the native content material aspect, O’Neill has mandated that every one the corporate’s tasks comprise a sturdy native content material observe of hiring, coaching and creating African and nationwide capacities. That is clear by the Sangomar challenge the place elevated native content material expenditure has been the strongest of any oil challenge on the continent. Native content material was a key a part of the challenge in addition to directing some huge cash in direction of the coaching and improvement of younger folks in Senegal.
Moreover, O’Neill ensured the financing of plenty of initiatives within the subject of know-how, and as such, lots of people engaged on Sangomar’s FPSO have been Senegalese. This all got here from coaching initiated from the get-go. O’Neill has additionally spent some huge cash on empowering native distributors and repair suppliers whereas coaching and creating Senegalese nationals to steer the Sangomar challenge. Lots of people have been taken to Australia for coaching and they’re now main the challenge in Senegal. That is historic for an oil challenge within the nation. O’Neill has basically created the blueprint for creating an oil challenge whereas on the similar time growing native capability.
In 2023, Former Namibian President Hage Geingob was honored for his daring and instrumental contributions to Namibia’s regulatory atmosphere, which resulted in 5 main hydrocarbon discoveries in two years and large-scale tasks throughout inexperienced hydrogen, mining and infrastructure sectors. In 2022, President and Chairman of the Board of Administrators of the African Export-Import Financial institution Benedict Oramah was acknowledged for advocating for a simply and inclusive African power transition, constructing the funding case for African oil and fuel, de-risking transactions and elevating entry to personal capital.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Power Chamber.
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