ConocoPhillips

On November 25, 1875, Isaac Elder Blake formed the Continental Oil and Transportation Co., bringing bulk kerosene by rail tank car to Ogden, Utah, which lowered prices and increased demand. In 1909, Continental Oil built the West’s first filling station.⁠[1]

In 1885 the company was reincorporated under the new name Continental Oil Company as part of the nationwide Standard OilStandard OilStandard Oil was an oil company founded in 1870 in Cleveland, Ohio, by John D. Rockefeller and others. Through mergers and expansion, and organizational forms including the trust of 1882 and the New Jersey holding company of 1899, it at one time controlled most of the refining capacity in the United States. In 1911 the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of its holding company under the Sherman Anti-trust Act, and the companies split off from it later evolved into oil companies including ExxonMobil and Chevron.Open the full entry trust.⁠[2]

In 1905 the brothers Frank and L.E. Phillips hit the first of 81 wells in a row without a dry hole. In June 1917 they consolidated their holdings and founded Phillips Petroleum Company, headquartered in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. In 1927 the company introduced Phillips 66 gasoline at its first service station, in Wichita, Kansas.⁠[3]

In 1929 Continental Oil merged with Marland Oil Company, which had been founded in 1917.⁠[2]

The combined company kept the Continental Oil name and was headquartered in Ponca City, Oklahoma.⁠[3]

In 2007, Standard & Poor’s listed ConocoPhillips Co. among the 86 companies in the S&P 500S&P 500The S&P 500 is a U.S. large-cap equity index compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It includes 500 leading companies, covers about 80% of available market capitalization and is described by S&P DJI as “widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities.”Open the full entry since March 1957.⁠[4]

ConocoPhillips has been a partner in China since the early 1980s. Its business there has expanded into oil and gas exploration and production, LNG supply and global supply chain services, with offices in Beijing and Tianjin.⁠[5]

In 1981 Conoco was acquired by E.I. Du Pont de Nemours & Company. Conoco split from DuPont in 1998 and operated as an independent company until its 2002 merger.⁠[2]

ConocoPhillips was incorporated in Delaware on November 16, 2001, in connection with the merger of Conoco Inc. and Phillips Petroleum Company. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission required the divestiture of specified assets, including Phillips’ Woods Cross, Utah, refinery and Conoco’s Commerce City, Colorado, refinery. At December 31, 2002, ConocoPhillips employed approximately 57,000 people in over 40 countries.⁠[6]

The merger was completed on August 30, 2002, after clearance by the FTC. The Houston-based company, with Archie W. Dunham as chairman and Jim Mulva as president and CEO, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “COP” on September 3. Mulva said: “Today marks the creation of a new international integrated major energy company.”⁠[7]

On March 31, 2006, ConocoPhillips completed its acquisition of Burlington Resources; each Burlington Resources common share was converted into the right to receive $46.50 in cash and 0.7214 of a ConocoPhillips common share. The deal expanded its long-life gas reserves and strengthened its position as a leading producer and marketer of natural gas in North America.⁠[8]

On September 7, 2011, ConocoPhillips announced a Bohai Bay fund to address its responsibilities under the relevant laws of China for the incidents at the Peng Lai 19-3 field in Bohai Bay, in which China National Offshore Oil Corp. was its co-venturer. Chairman and CEO James J. Mulva said: “ConocoPhillips deeply regrets these incidents and apologizes.”⁠[9]

On October 7, 2011, ConocoPhillips announced that, upon completion of its repositioning, Ryan M. Lance would become chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips, the upstream company, and Greg C. Garland chairman and CEO of the downstream company, while Jim Mulva would retire after the separation.⁠[10]

In 2012 ConocoPhillips completed the spinoff of its downstream businesses, distributing one share of Phillips 66 common stock for every two ConocoPhillips shares held on the record date of April 16, 2012. It became the world’s largest independent exploration and production company based on proved reserves and production.⁠[11]

In 2017 the company generated about $16 billion from non-core asset sales, including its Foster Creek and Christina Lake oil sands interests, its San Juan business unit and Western Canada gas holdings. In 2021 it completed the acquisitions of Concho Resources and Shell’s Permian assets. In 2023 it made a final investment decision on the Willow Project in Alaska.⁠[12]

On November 22, 2024, ConocoPhillips announced that it had completed its acquisition of Marathon Oil Corporation; each Marathon Oil share was converted into the right to receive 0.255 of a ConocoPhillips share. Chairman and CEO Ryan Lance said: “This acquisition of Marathon Oil is a perfect fit for ConocoPhillips,” and expected synergies of over $1 billion on a run-rate basis in the next 12 months.⁠[13]

The acquisition was valued at $22.5 billion.⁠[14]

The company has five geographic operating segments: Alaska, Lower 48, Canada, Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and Asia Pacific. As of December 31, 2025, it operated in 14 countries and employed about 9,900 people.⁠[15]

ConocoPhillips’ 2025 earnings were $8.0 billion ($6.35 per share), compared with $9.2 billion ($7.81 per share) in 2024. Full-year production was 2,375 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 388 thousand from 2024. It returned $9.0 billion to shareholders, comprising $5.0 billion in share repurchases and $4.0 billion in ordinary dividends.⁠[16]

On August 6, 2026, ConocoPhillips announced that Ryan Lance, who had led the company for 14 years, would retire as president and CEO and become executive chair of the board in a transitional role. Chief financial officer Andy O’Brien would become president and CEO effective September 1, with Konnie Haynes-Welsh becoming CFO on the same date. O’Brien began his career with Conoco in 1997.⁠[17]