Leadership Change at BP: BP has appointed Meg O'Neill, currently the CEO of Woodside Energy, as its new CEO, replacing Murray Auchincloss, who stepped down after less than two years. O'Neill will officially take over on April 1, making her the fourth CEO in six years for the company.
Strategic Shift: Auchincloss had reversed BP's previous green energy strategy, focusing instead on core gas and oil operations amid declining profits and investor pressure. The company has since launched a cost-cutting program and made new oil discoveries, leading to a 15% increase in share price year-to-date.
O'Neill's Background: With over 25 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, including a long tenure at ExxonMobil, O'Neill is expected to maintain BP's focus on liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a cleaner energy option, responding to customer demands for reliability, affordability, and sustainability.
Market Response: Following the leadership announcement, BP's stock rose by 0.7%, while Woodside Energy's stock fell by 1.3%. O'Neill's previous comments highlighted the growing demand for LNG, which is projected to increase by 50% over the next decade.
Wall Street analysts forecast WDS stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for WDS is 26.00 USD with a low forecast of 26.00 USD and a high forecast of 26.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
1 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast WDS stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for WDS is 26.00 USD with a low forecast of 26.00 USD and a high forecast of 26.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
0 Buy
1 Hold
0 Sell
Hold
Current: 16.380
Low
26.00
Averages
26.00
High
26.00
Current: 16.380
Low
26.00
Averages
26.00
High
26.00
JPMorgan
Overweight
to
Neutral
downgrade
2025-06-11
Reason
JPMorgan
Price Target
AI Analysis
2025-06-11
downgrade
Overweight
to
Neutral
Reason
JPMorgan downgraded Woodside Energy to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of A$23.90, down from A$26.80. The firm, which believes Woodside is entering a period of heightened execution risk as it advances the development of various projects and seeks to diversify its business away from traditional upstream oil and gas, contends that the Louisiana LNG project in particular "holds a high level of risk."
About WDS
Woodside Energy Group Ltd is a global energy company. Its segments include Australia, International and Marketing. The Australia segment is engaged in the exploration, evaluation, development, production and sale of liquefied natural gas, pipeline gas, crude oil and condensate and natural gas liquids in Australia. International segment is engaged in the exploration, evaluation, development, production and sale of pipeline gas, crude oil and condensate and natural gas liquids in international jurisdictions outside of Australia. Marketing segment is engaged in the marketing, shipping and trading of its oil and gas portfolio. Its projects include Pluto LNG, the North West Shelf Project, Macedon, Sangomar, the lower carbon ammonia project in Texas, and others. It holds an interest in Woodside Louisiana LNG, which is an under-construction LNG production and export terminal in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. The Sangomar, containing both oil and gas, is located 100 kilometers south of Dakar.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
