Woodside shareholders will be asked at the annual general meeting to approve the company's $41 billion all-stock merger with BHP's petroleum business.
If successful, this would more than double Woodside's production, transforming it from a company mostly focused on LNG production off the coast of WA to a truly global player with assets on four continents.
The new Woodside would be among the top 10 independent oil companies worldwide, not counting the seven vertically integrated super majors. With a market cap of around $63 billion, it would also edge ahead of Fortescue Metals as the ASX's eighth most valuable company.
There's been no organised opposition to the merger, and Woodside shareholder approval is the only thing still left standing in its way. If investors meeting in Perth give it the nod, as expected, the deal would be completed on June 1.
"Should the merger proceed, the new Woodside would be very well positioned," Woodside CEO Meg O'Neill told AAP.
It would have "the scale, the geographic and product diversity and the balance sheet strength to supply energy that the world needs today and to thrive through the energy transition", she said.
BHP shareholders - their approval is not required for the merger - will receive one Woodside share for every 5.5340 BHP shares they own, collectively giving them a 48 per cent stake in the new company.
Woodside will retain its primary listing on the ASX and will seek listings on the London and New York stock exchanges.
BHP's oil and gas assets include wells off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Western Australia and Victoria. There are also assets east of Trinidad, as well exploration rights in Barbados, Canada, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, the Gulf of Mexico and Egypt.
The new Woodside would produce an estimated 207 million barrels of oil equivalent this year, compared to the 91.1 that Woodside produced in 2021.
Woodside says the merger will result in more than US$400 million in synergies each year from optimised corporate processes and systems, as well as a reduction in its gearing from 22 per cent to 8 per cent.