Meg O'Neill's appointment as chief executive of BP, the first woman to run an oil major, might clear the way for fresh merger talks with Shell

BP named the American former Exxon Mobil executive as its new boss in an unexpected management shake-up Wednesday. She is set to take the helm of a storied yet often troubled energy producer that is aiming to reinvigorate its fossil-fuel business after an ill-timed turn toward renewable energy.

Auchincloss had been in the chief executive role less than two years and just this February had unveiled a strategic reset. His replacement will be Meg O'Neill

BP on Thursday made an abrupt shift in leadership, as CEO Murray Auchinloss is stepping down immediately after less than two years on the job.

The surprise appointment of Meg O'Neill as BP's first outsider CEO offers the bruised $90 billion British oil company three clear strategic choices for moving forward: build, buy or be bought.

Meg O’Neill’s rapid rise to the top of one of the world’s biggest fossil-fuel companies has been unencumbered by doubt. At a moment when oil executives are still being pressed to move away from hydrocarbons,

While BP is a solid oil stock, I'd buy shares of ExxonMobil ( XOM 0.74%) before I'd add BP to my portfolio. Here's why.

Ousted BP boss Murray Auchincloss clashed repeatedly with chair Albert Manifold in the weeks leading up to his abrupt departure, with the pair at loggerheads over whether to change strategy for the third time in as many years.