Mr Kavonic on Wednesday described Woodside’s CEO transition situation as “shambolic” and said it cast doubt over its ability to make key decisions at such a significant time for the company.

Woodside and the other producers of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) were hit hard last year by the onset of the coronavirus crisis, which hammered demand, sent benchmark commodity prices tumbling to multi-year lows, and forced a sharp pullback in spending across the sector. Woodside is now looking to get its growth agenda back on track and hopes to give the go-ahead to the $17 billion Scarborough gas project off the coast of Western Australia in the “second half” of 2021.

“The market does not like such messy management churn situations and Woodside’s ability to make key decisions including Scarborough FID [final investment decision] can appear compromised until CEO certainty is attained,” Mr Kavonic said.

“Clearly, the faster leadership certainty – and hence decision-making credibility – is achieved, the better.”

Santos chief Kevin Gallagher, previously considered as the lead contender for the Woodside top job, this week signalled his intention to stay at Santos after being offered a $6 million bonus plan to see through the company’s key growth projects until at least 2025.

Alongside Ms O’Neill, who is presently Woodside’s executive vice-president of development and marketing, leading external candidates to become Woodside’s permanent CEO may include former Shell Australia boss Zoe Yujnovich and BHP head of petroleum Geraldine Slattery.

UBS energy analyst Tom Allen said a key challenge for Woodside was the need to reset some of its joint-venture relationships in the north-west.

“An executive that has a track record in asset consolidation, infrastructure sell-downs and finding win-win commercial outcomes from difficult joint ventures would be well-regarded by the board.”

Woodside share closed the session on Wednesday 0.4 per cent weaker at $24.16.