No challenge too big for Hession

As an Irishman and a rugby lover, Michael Hession dreams of his country winning next year's World Cup.

That Ireland has never won the Web Ellis Cup and next year's tournament will be hosted by the All Blacks, loom as massive challenges.

But when it comes to challenges, Mr Hession doesn't mind one.

As the Woodside Petroleum executive in charge of developing the controversial $30 billion Browse LNG project in the Kimberley, Mr Hession faces arguably the biggest challenge in corporate Australia.

But, asks Mr Hession, "is there any morning when I get up and I am overwhelmed? No".

"The danger with any project this size is you can get too focused on what is the most immediate concern," the affable geophysicist says. "It's getting that balance right. There are always things that are going well and things that are not going that well.

"What I do to energise myself and my people is (say) 'there is stuff that is going well and humming along but this is creaky, this is not working well, let's sort that out'."

Those who know Mr Hession well are not surprised by his demeanour.

Says one of his close friends: "He is tougher than he looks, smarter than he seems and softer than most people see."

It's a nice compliment but, more importantly, provides an apt insight into the 48-year-old's make-up, and probably explains why Don Voelte chose Mr Hession to take control of the controversial Browse project.

It's big and expensive, technically complex and hinges on selling tens of billion of dollars worth of liquefied natural gas to Asian customers at acceptable prices.

It will probably have to absorb the cost of a carbon tax. And Woodside's four multinational joint-venture partners have to be united at a time when each has their own LNG projects to advance.

A vocal section of the Broome community is fighting the project, worried the James Price Point development will destroy their town and forever ruin the Kimberley's appeal as a region of untouched natural beauty.

Aboriginal groups are squabbling with each other over whose traditional land James Price Point is and what deal with Woodside will best help their people improve living standards while preserving sites of cultural significance.

The squabbling has prompted Premier Colin Barnett, an advocate of the project, to threaten compulsory acquisition of the land at James Price Point, a move that will put him on a collision course with Senator Bob Brown and his Greens, who make up Julia Gillard's minority Government. Of course, Mr Barnett can expect support from Gillard ally Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson, who like WA's Premier wants the project to be developed at James Price Point and is demanding that Woodside and its partners make a final investment decision by the middle of 2012 for what will be one of the country's biggest-ever resources projects.

"I am actually confident that if you can keep your eye on the horizon, we can do a deal up there," Mr Hession says. "I actually don't think it will come to compulsory acquisition. I actually think, I hope, we will cut a deal that they will be proud of and we will be proud of.

"What is lost is a lot of the good news that is out there.

"Like on the marketing front. We have got an oversubscribed interest on the gas marketing side, so that's gone really well.

"We are progressing the offshore. There are three rigs up there and we've got data gathering that is going well there, and what people don't really know is that there are traditional owners out there working with us."

Mr Hession says he is "honest to God" when he says it was the opportunity to create a better life for Kimberley Aboriginals that made him relish the opportunity to take over the Browse project from his Woodside predecessor, Betsy Donaghey, who retired at the end of last year.

"So when I sit with (Kimberley Land Council boss) Wayne Bergmann or I sit with the elders up there, we sit there and say 'what can we do to take this to a better space for the community?'.We can't solve all the issues associated with the indigenous problems in Australia but we can do our best, and they are really keen for us to do our bit," he says.

Mr Bergmann says he looks forward to Mr Hession "delivering on the substance of his personal commitment".

"The proposed Browse Basin development is a chance for Woodside to show real leadership and ensure the State, Commonwealth and commercial partners deliver on the substance of discussions so far to avoid the mistakes of the Pilbara and leave our region in a better position," the KLC boss says.

But Mr Hession, who during a globe-trotting career in the oil and gas industry has lived in the US and Azerbaijan (both with BP), Libya (with Woodside), France (while completing a global MBA program through the London School of Economics) and Australia, refuses to get ruffled. He says the Browse project is no different to other mega-projects and comes with "a reasonably standard timeframe".

Next year, front- end engineering and design studies for the project's onshore and offshore aspects get under way, critical if Woodside and its partners are to meet the Government-set FID deadline of mid-2012.

He describes his 400-strong project team as "very capable" while his MBA studies, which included units at Harvard and INSEAD, taught him to focus on the "360 view".

"The reason I sit down and ask you is because I am interested but I am (also) trying to work out, like you are trying to work out, what motivates you," he says. "Because if you can work out what drives me, what my value sets are and viceversa, you have a chance of getting to a sensible solution rather than mistakenly bumping into things."

Positive progress over the coming two years will propel his stock, not just within Australia's oil and gas community but internationally as well, although he won't be drawn on whether he will nominate to succeed Mr Voelte, who leaves Woodside in the second half of next year.

As a former colleague confided, Mr Hession "is the fairest and toughest boss I have worked with and one who will not suffer fools but will take people further than they imagined".

Mr Hession will be hoping the same applies to Ireland at the World Cup.