The combined entity would be owned 52 per cent by Woodside shareholders and 48 per cent by BHP shareholders,the companies said. Woodside interim chief executive Meg O’Neill was named on Tuesday as permanent CEO and will lead the merged business.
“Bringing the BHP and Woodside assets together will provide choice for BHP shareholders,unlock synergies in how these assets are managed and allow capital to be deployed to the highest quality opportunities,” BHP chief executive Mike Henry said.
Selling out of oil and gas marks the most significant shake-up of BHP’s portfolio in several years and is an acceleration of Mr Henry’s plans to decarbonise its operations around the world.
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Petroleum has been an important part of BHP since the 1960s,when the company found Australia’s first major offshore oil and gas field in the Bass Strait,between Victoria and Tasmania.
However,amid intensifying scrutiny from investors and wider society over climate change in recent years,resources companies around the world have been forced to rethink their exposure to planet-heating fossil fuels.
Melbourne-based BHP,which derives the bulk of its earnings from iron ore and copper,has been pursuing a plan that includes exiting thermal coal mining and boosting its exposure to “future-facing” commodities of copper and nickel that will be increasingly needed to manufacture electric batteries.