Samantha McCulloch's appointment was announced in mid-May but she has only begun in her role today. The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association's first female executive joins from the International Energy Agency, where was a carbon capture and storage lead. 

 

The association and its members see CCS as crucial to both decarbonisation efforts and to maintaining their oil and gas businesses through the energy transition. 

 

"An internationally recognised figure in the world of CCUS, Ms McCulloch has more than 20 years of expertise from previous roles within government, industry associations and the private sector, both in Australia and overseas," APPEA said today via LinkedIn. 

 

McConville announced his departure in April, leaving after three years to join the Murray Darling Basin Authority. 

 

She was head of IEA's CCUS unit for four years and represents one of the first industry-focussed appointments in several given McConville's agricultural background and Dr Malcolm Roberts' policy focus. 

 

McCulloch has 20 years' experience in energy policy and advocacy within government, the private sector and industry associations in Australia and internationally, APPEA said. 

 

Her educational background, despite time with the IEA, is primarily in commerce and public policy, rather than the technical ins and outs of CCS. 

 

Her time at the IEA was spent arguing for the carbon sequestering technique as central to getting to net-zero by 2050, something both Santos and Woodside Petroleum have used to bolster their own forays into development of CCS.