Woodside’s CEO says people care less about carbon when security issues are at play. 

Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill has told the World Gas Conference in South Korea that in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, customers are “saying; ‘Let’s start with security and reliability – because we need energy to keep our lights on, to keep our homes warm, to keep our businesses running’”.

She said customers’ demands for energy to also be low carbon have temporarily taken a back seat.

“If you look at what a customer wants, the customer wants energy that is reliable, affordable and lower carbon, but if it’s not reliable and affordable lower carbon goes out the window.”

Hee-Bong Chae, president and CEO of major Woodside LNG customer Korea Gas Corporation, agreed that while the transition to low-carbon energy needs to continue, security of energy supply is the immediate priority.

Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher said there was a significant change in emissions talk at the post-COP26 ministerial meeting in March amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with energy security emerging as the major concern.