Woodside shares slide amid big leadership news

Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares are sliding today.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) energy stock closed yesterday trading for $28.03. In late morning trade on Friday, shares are swapping hands for $27.69 apiece, down 1.2%. 

For some context, the ASX 200 is up 1.3% at this same time. 

Some of today’s underperformance looks to be driven by another dip in global oil prices.

Currently trading for US$71.60 per barrel, the Brent crude oil price is down 0.3% overnight, which now sees the oil price down more than 25% over the past month.

Investors may also be tuning into the latest board shakeup announced by the oil and gas giant this morning.

What’s happening with Woodside shares?

Before market open today, Woodside announced that Tony O’Neill has resigned as a non-executive director, effective as of the first of this month, just two years after joining the board. 

Since June 2024, O’Neill served on Woodside’s Audit & Risk, Sustainability, Nominations & Governance committees.

Commenting on the abrupt departure that could be dragging on Woodside shares today, chairman Richard Goyder said: 

Tony’s wise counsel and strategic guidance on sustainability, decarbonisation and operational performance have been highly valued during what has been a transformative period for Woodside. We appreciate Tony’s leadership and commitment to delivering value for our shareholders and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

What are the experts saying?

According to various media speculations, O’Neill’s resignation appears to be linked to historic United Kingdom-based business dealings at Odin that he had with Mark Cutifani. Cutifani joined the Woodside board earlier this year. Their business relationship had, reportedly, not been clarified to other board directors. 

As The Australian Financial Review reported, a Woodside spokeswoman said O’Neill resigned “to allow the company and board to focus on delivery and remove ongoing distraction”. 

As for the potential impact on Woodside shares, MST Marquee energy analyst Saul Kavonic noted that O’Neill’s resignation “may now be too little, too late to fully alleviate investor concerns on governance”.

According to Kavonic (quoted by the AFR):

Governance concerns will persist for as long as the chairman succession process isn’t seen to be beyond reproach.

That Woodside’s board persist with the assertion that this is about dealing with a distraction rather than facing up to a substantive governance issue is a further sign that change of leadership of the Woodside board is overdue, and shouldn’t be passed to another director who was involved in this debacle.

Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility lead analyst Alex Hillman added:

We raised concerns at the recent AGM about the appointment of Mark Cutifani as a director, in circumstances where Tony O’Neill and Mark Cutifani have had overlapping business interests.

The resignation of Tony O’Neill does, however, create an opportunity for Woodside to appoint the type of director that the company needs.

With today’s intraday dip factored in, Woodside shares remain up 17.2% in 2026.

The post Woodside shares slide amid big leadership news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.