PERTH, April 26, 2026, 22:04 (AWST)
- Woodside’s new CEO heads into an April 29 first-quarter report with a large protest vote over executive pay still fresh.
- Shareholders backed Liz Westcott’s FY26 long-term incentive award, but 34.52% voted against it.
- The dissent lands as Woodside, Chevron and Santos face broader scrutiny in Australia over LNG taxes and gas profits.
Woodside Energy Group Ltd’s new chief executive, Liz Westcott, faces an early governance test after more than a third of votes at the company’s annual meeting opposed her FY26 long-term incentive award, a sharp rebuke even though every resolution passed. The company’s voting results showed 65.48% support and 34.52% opposition for the CEO award, while the wider remuneration report passed with 18.31% against.
The timing is awkward. Woodside, Australia’s biggest listed oil and gas producer, is due to issue its first-quarter report on April 29, putting Westcott before investors again within days of the pay vote and amid questions about project delivery, costs and climate risk.
Reuters reported that Woodside had asked investors to approve a package of up to A$14.8 million, or about $10.57 million, including A$2.2 million in fixed pay and A$12.6 million in variable pay tied to performance. Westcott, promoted to the top job in March after Meg O’Neill left to lead BP, told reporters the board was “very disappointed” with the remuneration vote. Reuters
HESTA, the Australian pension fund, said the package was “not adequately justified” and voted against the remuneration report, the CEO share rights and the re-election of Larry Archibald and Arnaud Breuillac. HESTA CEO Debby Blakey said Woodside’s focus on growing oil and gas carried transition risk, meaning the risk that assets and returns are hit as economies shift away from higher-emitting fuels. HESTA
The pay structure itself is not simple. Woodside’s notice said the award involved 119,926 additional performance rights for Westcott as part of a long-term incentive, or LTI, which is equity-based pay that can vest if conditions are met over time. The company said the award was linked to shareholder outcomes under a new 2026 incentive framework.
MST Marquee analyst Saul Kavonic wrote that HESTA’s vote signalled investor unease, and said questions over Woodside’s board disclosures were raising concern about a “weak approach to governance” under new leadership. CalPERS, the U.S. public pension fund, also voted against the remuneration report and the equity grant, Reuters reported. Reuters
Westcott used the AGM to lean into execution. She said her focus as CEO was “disciplined delivery to our plan,” and told shareholders the Scarborough LNG project remained on track for its first cargo in the fourth quarter. Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is gas chilled into liquid form so it can be shipped by tanker.
Woodside is also pushing ahead with growth outside Australia. Westcott said the Trion oil project was targeting first oil in 2028 and Louisiana LNG was targeting first LNG in 2029, while Beaumont New Ammonia had achieved first production.
The but is bigger than pay. If investors keep linking remuneration to capital discipline and climate risk, Woodside may find it harder to sell large LNG growth spending as routine, especially with Scarborough, Trion and Louisiana all needing clean execution. A delay, cost blowout or weaker LNG demand case would sharpen that argument.
The political setting has also shifted. Woodside and Chevron appeared at a Senate inquiry in Perth on Friday into the taxation of gas resources, where Woodside CFO Graham Tiver said a proposed 25% tax on gas exports would make project economics difficult and told the inquiry: “I’m not sure how any project would survive.” The Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, or PRRT, is Australia’s offshore oil and gas profit tax after companies recover eligible costs. ABC News
That puts Woodside in the same policy fight as Chevron, Santos and other LNG operators, not just in a boardroom dispute over one CEO package. Australia’s Senate established the gas taxation committee on March 30, with a reporting date of May 7, and its terms include oil and gas tax treatment, LNG exporter profitability and government revenue.
Woodside shares last closed at A$32.61 on April 24, up 2.64%, according to Reuters market data. The stock next trades with investors weighing the pay revolt against the first-quarter operating update and the company’s still-heavy LNG growth slate.
