ConocoPhillips Co. is an American multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located
in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas in the United States.
It is the world's largest independent pure-play exploration and production company and is
also one of the Fortune 500 companies.
ConocoPhillips was created through the merger of Conoco Inc. and the Phillips Petroleum
Co. on August 30, 2002.
In 2012, ConocoPhillips' spun off its downstream assets as a new, and separate company: Phillips
66.
History
Conoco Inc. was an American oil company founded in 1875 as the Continental Oil and Transportation
Co.
Based in Ogden, Utah, the company was a coal, oil, kerosene, grease and candles distributor
in the West.
Marland Oil Co. later acquired the assets of Continental Oil Co., for a consideration
of 2,317,266 shares of stock.
On June 26, 1929, Marland Oil changed its name to Continental Oil Co. and moved its
headquarters to Ponca City, Oklahoma.
The acquisition gave Conoco the red bar-and-triangle logo previously used by Marland.
Conoco used the logo between 1930 and 1970, when the current red capsule logo was adopted.
The Conoco headquarters were in Ponca City until 1949, when it moved to Houston, Texas.
In 2002 Conoco Inc. and Phillips Petroleum Co., whose headquarters were in nearby Bartlesville,
Oklahoma merged into ConocoPhillips Numerous state corporation filings are identified
"Continental Oil Co." and "Continental Oil Corp." and "Continental Oil Co. of Texas"
as recorded with the Texas Secretary of State and Delaware Secretary of State.
Merger of San Jacinto Petroleum Corp. and Continental Oil Corp. is recorded in 1964
with Delaware Secretary of State.
In 2005, ConocoPhillips began rebranding its 76 gas stations, which Phillips had acquired
from Tosco Corp. before the merger with Conoco.
The move prompted a petition campaign by fans hoping to save the historic 76 orange ball
signage.
In March 2006, ConocoPhillips bought Wilhelmshavener Raffineriegesellschaft mbH in Germany, and
Burlington Resources in the United States.
On May 10, 2006, Richard Armitage, former deputy-secretary of the U.S. State Department,
was elected to the board of directors of the ConocoPhillips oil company.
In 2007, the Chevron Corp. converted all of the Conoco gas stations in Mississippi to
the Texaco brand.
In late 2009, the company announced asset sales to increase investor returns.
Included are debt reduction and stock buy back.
In March 2011 the program was enlarged up to $10 billion assets sales in the next two
years.
ConocoPhillips intends to implement a floating liquefied natural gas facility by 2016–2019,
and has completed quantitative risk analysis of a design that will undergo pre-feed study
in 2011.
On July 14, 2011, ConocoPhillips announced its intent to separate the company's upstream
and downstream businesses into two stand-alone, publicly traded corporations, with the intent
of maximizing shareholder value.
On May 1, 2012, all midstream, downstream, marketing and chemical operations were separated
into a new company named Phillips 66, headquartered in Houston.
As a result, ConocoPhillips continued its operations as an upstream company.
In April 2012, ConocoPhillips sold its Trainer Refinery to Monroe Energy LLC, a subsidiary
of Delta Air Lines.
In January 2013, Conoco announced that it would sell its Rocky Mountain assets to Denbury
Resources for $1.05 billion.
Operations Exploration and production
ConocoPhillips focuses solely on exploring for, developing and producing oil and natural
gas globally.
The company manages its operations through six operating segments, which are defined
by geographic region: Alaska, Lower 48 and Latin America, Canada, Europe, Asia Pacific
and Middle East, and Other International.
Kashagan Field in Kazakhstan In 1998, ConocoPhillips acquired an interest
in 10.5 blocks off the coast of Kazakhstan through the North Caspian Sea Production Sharing
Agreement.
It currently owns 8.4% of the shares of the consortium exploiting Kashagan oil field.
However the company seeks to reduce its non-core assets in order to use the cash for debt reduction,
fund its capital program, and dividend payments.
On October 3, 2012, the Kazakh Oil and Gas Minister told reporters that ConocoPhillips
has informed Kazakhstan of their intention to sell their shares.
In November 26, in its biggest acquisition ever, ONGC Videsh agreed to buy ConocoPhillips’
8.4% stake in the Kashagan oilfield for about US $5 billion.
The stake buy is subject to approval of governments of Kazakhstan and India and also to other
partners in the Caspian Sea field waiving their pre-emption rights.
Headquarters
The headquarters of ConocoPhillips are located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston,
Texas.
By 2002 the groups organizing the measure had selected Houston as the site of the headquarters.
Governor of Oklahoma Frank Keating said that the move to Houston was "regrettable."
The Journal Record stated that Archie Dunham, the CEO of Conoco Inc., "apparently highlighted
the lack of direct international air travel from Oklahoma as a key drawback for the merged
firm."
The ConocoPhillips headquarters, originally the headquarters of Conoco Inc., was formerly
known as the Conoco Center.
Environmental record On April 11, 2007, it became the first U.S.
oil company to join the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, an alliance of big business and
environmental groups.
The partnership in January 2007 had advised President George W. Bush that mandatory emissions
caps would be needed to reduce the flow of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases
into the atmosphere.
In 2007 ConocoPhillips announced it would spend $150 million that year on the research
and development of new energy sources and technologies — a 50 percent increase in
spending from 2006.
However, ConocoPhillips left the U.S. Climate Action Partnership in February, 2010.
According to the Political Economy Research Institute, ConocoPhillips ranked 13th among
U.S. corporate producers of air pollutions.
In 2003, ConocoPhillips was named as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by Green Alternative,
an environmental group based in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
The suit claimed that a number of foreign oil companies colluded with the Georgian government
to induce authorities to approve a $3 billion pipeline without properly evaluating the environmental
impact.
In June 2011, ConocoPhillips China Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of ConocoPhillips,
was responsible for a series of oil spills at the Penglai 19-3 oil field in Bohai Bay.
ConocoPhillips is a signatory participant of the Voluntary Principles on Security and
Human Rights.
See also
ConocoPhillips Alaska Marland Oil Co.
References
External links ConocoPhillips website
ConocoPhillips SEC Filings Conoco76 promotional website
World Internet News: "Big Oil Looking for a Government Handout", April 2006.
Subsea firm listing "COP - ConocoPhillips: 2007 Integrated Oil
& Gas Outlook Part I", March 2007 Continental Oil Co. stock advertisement, with
drawing, Los Angeles Sunday Times, February 11, 1900
Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory