Woodside CFO leaves for Newcrest

Woodside Petroleum’s chief financial officer Sherry Duhe is leaving the company after four years to take up the same position with fellow ASX-lister, Newcrest Mining.

The departure comes at a pivotal period for Woodside, which is in the middle of a $40 billion proposed merger with BHP’s oil and gas business and is working towards a final investment decision for the Scarborough LNG project later this year.

Newcrest confirmed Ms Duhe would be joining the gold miner as its new chief financial officer via an ASX announcement this morning.

Ms Duhe had previously been a contender for the role of chief executive at Woodside, but lost out to Meg O'Neill in August this year.

Ms O'Neill said the CFO’s financial and commercial stewardship over the last four years had been integral to the company.

“Over this time she has maintained a strong balance sheet which has provided Woodside’s resilience in challenging trading circumstances,” Ms O'Neill said in a statement.

“Sherry’s passionate leadership has been central to delivering the financial and commercial architecture for our proposed merger with BHP’s petroleum business and the Scarborough development.

“We wish Sherry all the best in her future endeavours,” she said.

Woodside has not yet indicated who will replace Ms Duhe, who will be staying with Woodside until the new year and start with Newcrest in early 2022.