The Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt has welcomed today's news of a merger commitment between Woodside Petroleum and the oil and gas division of BHP Group.
"This creates a new "Big Australian" in the global energy business. The merged company will be in the top ten of independent global oil and gas producers," Minister Pitt said.
"The new entity will have the resources to grow our traditional strengths of oil and gas production and to take advantage of new opportunities that emerge in energy production."
A major upcoming decision of importance to both the new company and to Australia's LNG exports is a final investment decision (FID) on the giant Scarborough LNG project later this year.
"A FID on Scarborough will demonstrate real confidence in the future of Australia's gas industry, our LNG export industry and in the Australian Government's determination for a gas led recovery," Minister Pitt said.
''It will provide jobs and business opportunities especially in Western Australia.
"I want to especially congratulate Meg O'Neil on her appointment as the new CEO and Managing Director of this new energy powerhouse.
"Having dealt with Ms O'Neil over the past few months since her appointment as interim CEO of Woodside, I am confident she is the right person to lead the new Woodside Energy through the challenges of a merger of this size and complexity," Minister Pitt added.
"I look forward to working with Ms O'Neil and with Woodside Energy on the challenges and opportunities that will present themselves in our strong and resilient energy sector.
"This includes the opportunities that I see emerging for a decommissioning industry to grow in Australia as projects reach their end-of-life along with the new projects like Scarborough that will come on line."
