Woodside Energy has appointed Breyden Lonnie as its executive vice president and Australian chief operating officer, filling the role vacated by new CEO Liz Westcott.
Mr Lonnie has been acting in the position since December last year, when Ms Westcott was made temporary CEO following the resignation of Meg O’Neill.
Both have now been made permanent.
In his role, Mr Lonnie will take responsibility for Woodside’s portfolio of assets in Western Australia, and the Bass Strait.
He was vice president North West Shelf between 2022 and 2025, overseeing the project’s operations and transition to a processor of third-party gas in the region – a key enabler in Woodside’s hopes of developing the proposed Browse project.
Mr Lonnie has worked with Woodside in various roles for more than two decades.
Ms Westcott said the appointment highlighted the strength of Woodside’s internal talent and would be important for the future of Browse.
“Breyden brings exceptional leadership and technical capability to this role, with a deep understanding of Woodside’s Australian portfolio from an operational, project execution, commercial and stakeholder engagement perspective,” she said.
“Breyden’s expertise and experience will be invaluable as we move towards targeted first LNG cargo from the Scarborough energy project in the fourth quarter of 2026, assume operatorship of the Bass Strait assets and complete the asset swap with Chevron in the second half of 2026, and take forward the proposed Browse to North West Shelf project.”
Mr Lonnie said he was pleased to take on the role.
“Woodside’s Australian business has an outstanding track record of delivering reliable and affordable energy to our customers, while making significant contributions to the communities where we operate,” he said.
“My focus is on ongoing safe and reliable operations and strong project execution across our high-quality Australian portfolio, delivered though our highly capable teams.”
Woodside shares were down 1 per cent in early trade, to $33.23.
