Woodside COO International Kalms to leave company

Woodside Energy Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer International Daniel Kalms plans to leave the company after a 25-year career that included leadership roles in several of Woodside’s major LNG developments and acquisitions.

David Kalms

Kalms joined Woodside in 2001 and was involved in projects that helped expand the Australian company’s international operations and LNG portfolio. He led the Pluto Foundation Project through startup in 2012 and, from 2018 to 2020, played a central role in preparing the Scarborough Energy Project for a final investment decision. Woodside’s board approved the project in 2021.

Kalms also led integration activities associated with Woodside’s merger with BHP Petroleum, which was completed in June 2022.

Following the merger, he relocated from Perth, Australia, to Houston and became executive vice president of technical services. He was appointed executive vice president and COO International in 2024.

More recently, Kalms played a central role in Woodside’s 2024 acquisition of Tellurian, which gave the company control of the proposed Driftwood LNG development in Louisiana. Woodside subsequently renamed the development Louisiana LNG and took a final investment decision on the project in 2025.

“Daniel Kalms has had a career of distinction at Woodside and has been central to building Woodside from a primarily Australia-based company to one that now has operations across three continents and which is building a globally significant position in liquefied natural gas and other energy products,” Woodside CEO Liz Westcott said.

Westcott said Kalms’ technical expertise, commercial experience and leadership had contributed to the company’s growth and corporate culture.

Woodside has appointed Paa-Joe Akoto-Ampaw, currently vice president Gulf of Mexico, as acting executive vice president and COO International while the company conducts a recruitment process for a permanent successor. Akoto-Ampaw will join Woodside’s Executive Leadership Team during the interim period.

The international portfolio includes operations in the Gulf of Mexico and Senegal as well as major projects under development, including Louisiana LNG and the Trion deepwater oil project in Mexico.

“We thank Paa-Joe for assuming this significant leadership position at Woodside,” Westcott said. “We are extremely well positioned in our International portfolio.”

Louisiana LNG represents a major component of Woodside’s strategy to expand its position in the global LNG market. The development is designed as a three-train LNG facility with an initial capacity of 16.5 million metric tons per year and potential expansion capacity.

Woodside acquired Tellurian in October 2024 in a transaction valued at approximately $1.2 billion, including debt, gaining ownership of the Louisiana project and its associated development infrastructure.