The Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) share price is down 0.32% in afternoon trading, currently at $22.16 per share.
The broader S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is under pressure today too, down 0.48% at this same time.
Below we look at 2 factors ASX investors may be considering when weighing up the Woodside share price.
New management plucked from BHP
First, in a late morning release to the ASX yesterday, Woodside announced the appointment of Graham Tiver as its new chief financial officer (CFO) and executive vice president.
Tiver comes to Woodside from BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), where he spent 28 years, most recently overseeing the mining giant's global accounting. He's replacing Sherry Duhe, who stepped down from Woodside in November.
Commenting on Tiver's appointment as CFO, Woodside's CEO Meg O'Neill said:
Graham's demonstrated technical and financial capability, strong operational background and leadership skills will make an important contribution to Woodside and delivering ongoing value to shareholders.
Woodside expects Tiver will commence as CFO in February.
What else is impacting the Woodside share price today?
The Woodside share price will be facing some headwinds today amid slipping crude oil prices.
International benchmark Brent crude oil is down 0.84% overnight, currently trading for US$73.08 (AU$102.89) per barrel. As recently as 25 November, that same barrel was fetching US$82.22.
And the outlook for oil prices in 2022 looks lower. Which will be good news when you're filling up your car, but will pose more headwinds for the Woodside share price.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global oil markets will see an oversupply next year as demand is forecast to slip some amid the resurgent Omicron COVID variant.
According to the IEA's monthly report (quoted by Bloomberg):
Much-needed relief for tight markets is on the way, with world oil supply set to overtake demand starting this month. The steady rise in supply, combined with easing demand, has considerably loosened our balances.
As for Omicron's impact on demand?
"The surge in new COVID-19 cases is expected to temporarily slow, but not upend, the recovery in oil demand that is under way," the IEA said.
With OPEC+ gradually increasing its restricted outputs, and major oil producing nations outside the cartel – think the United States, Brazil and Canada – ramping up their output, the IEA forecast that global crude inventories could grow by 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in the early months of 2022.
US production is already well into the upswing, increasing by 340,000 bpd last month.
And shale oil production from the oil rich Permian Basin in the US is forecast to hit new all-time highs next month. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts crude output from the Permian alone will exceed 5 million bpd as early as January, exceeding that of very OPEC nation save Saudi Arabia.
Woodside share price snapshot
The Woodside share price is down 3% in 2021, compared to a year-to-date gain of 11% posted by the ASX 200.
Over the past month, Woodside shares have slipped 0.40%.
