BP has ousted its chief executive after less than two years as investors lose patience with the oil major’s embrace of net zero.

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,

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.

BP's new chairman had come under investor pressure to accelerate the company's turnaround plans which have slashed renewables investment in favour of more lucrative earnings from oil and gas.