BP appoints Meg O’Neill as new ceo; top woman wants to ‘stability’ and ‘accelerate performance’
Energy giant BP has appointed Meg O’Neill as the company’s new chief executive officer with effect from 1 April 2026. O’Neill was previously ceo of Woodside Energy. A day later, BP appointed Carol Howle as deputy ceo.
O’Neill succeeds Murray Auchincloss who left BP early this year for unclear reasons. On his first day in the post of ceo, O’Neill stated that he wanted to provide BP with “stability” and “accelerate the group’s performance”. This comes a year after the company decisively scaled back its strategy to oil and gas. O’Neill is BP’s fourth ceo since 2020 and the first external hire for the position in more than a century. She is also the first woman to head one of the world’s five largest oil companies.
Woodside and Exxon
O’Neill comes from Australia’s Woodside Energy, where she held the position of ceo since April 2021. She joined Woodside Energy in 2018 and was previously chief operations officer there. Prior to that, she spent 23 years at ExxonMobil in various technical, operational and leadership roles in Houston, New Orleans, Indonesia, Canada and Norway. BP’s brand-new ceo holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and ocean engineering and a master’s degree in ocean systems management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US.
Fantastic company
Carol Howle, appointed deputy ceo of BP from 2 April 2026, said on taking office that “BP is a fantastic company”. “Progress has been made in recent months, but there is always room for improvement. Meg and I share a commitment to safe and reliable operations, disciplined capital allocation and high-quality service. I look forward to supporting her as she gets started.”
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