ConocoPhillips CEO Lance steps down, CFO O'Brien to take over

ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance will step down in September after 14 years, handing the top job to chief financial officer Andy O'Brien. Lance will stay on as executive chairman.

The leadership change came alongside a blockbuster second-quarter profit of $3.9 billion, up from $2 billion a year earlier. High oil prices triggered by the Iran war drove the gain. ConocoPhillips has a market cap of about $140 billion, just off an all-time high reached in late March.

Houston-based ConocoPhillips is the largest U.S. independent oil and gas producer, focused solely on upstream operations. It split from Phillips 66 in 2012, with Phillips 66 taking the refining, petrochemical, pipeline and terminal assets. Lance became CEO that same year.

Lance, a petroleum engineer, will leave the role just short of his 65th birthday.

"[Lance] set the course for the newly formed independent ConocoPhillips in 2012, and during his tenure, the company became a recognized leader within the sector as a global upstream company," said Robert Niblock, Conoco's lead independent director, in a statement. "The strength of the company today and its compelling outlook for the future is a direct result of Ryan's vision and leadership."

O'Brien is a company lifer who joined in 1997 as a financial analyst in England, working in Scotland and Canada before moving to Houston in 2004. He became a vice president in 2020 and took over as executive vice president of strategy and commercial and CFO last year. Niblock called him "the right person to lead our company into its next phase."

Conoco also said it completed $1.7 billion in noncore U.S. asset sales, including properties in Oklahoma, the Eagle Ford Shale, the Gulf of Mexico and some less-profitable parts of the Permian Basin. The divestitures hit a $5 billion target set earlier.

Those sales come as Conoco expands internationally again, recently signing deals to move into Iraq and Syria. Still, its most profitable position remains the West Texas Permian.

Konnie Haynes-Welsh, currently vice president of finance and controller, will step up to senior vice president and CFO.

AlphaScala's proprietary model rates ConocoPhillips at 54 out of 100, a Mixed score, with the stock page at COP. Chevron scores 51, also Mixed, at CVX. Phillips 66 scores 64, Moderate, at PSX.