New BP CEO Starts in Fresh Bid to Revive Embattled Oil Giant (1)

As Meg O’Neill takes over BP Plc on Wednesday, Big Oil’s first female chief executive officer will benefit from a war-driven surge in prices — but inherit the industry’s toughest cleanup job.

BP’s first outsider CEO faces a list of challenges, which cost her predecessor his job and had raised crucial questions about the future of the more than century-old firm. Following a botched 2020 pivot toward renewables, the company has a mountain of debt, an organizational structure that many in the industry believe is too sprawling, and a portfolio cluttered with low-return units.

While BP’s share performance has ...