American multinational ConocoPhillips has announced its leadership change, with CEO Ryan Lance retiring after 14 years. CFO Andy O’Brien will succeed him on September 1.
While the oil and gas producer posted better-than-expected quarterly profit, Lance’s departure caps a tumultuous period for ConocoPhillips. The company, in September 2025, cut 20-25% of its workforce after hiring Boston Consulting Group to advise on the restructuring.
Lance took responsibility for the job cuts at the time, telling employees that the company had become less competitive as it focused on swallowing smaller rivals.
ConocoPhillips struck two multibillion-dollar deals in the last few years. It bought smaller peer Marathon Oil in 2024 for USD 22.5 billion. Before that, it acquired Concho Resources for USD 9.7 billion in 2021. It also acquired Permian assets from oil major Shell for USD 9.5 billion.
Despite those challenges, the company on Thursday (August 6) posted its highest net income since 2022 on the back of sturdy oil prices in recent months (due to the Iran war), a phenomenon that has already resulted in rich profit books for other oil majors.
Lance became the CEO in 2012 after ConocoPhillips split from the refining business Phillips 66, becoming a pure exploration and production company. He has been with the company for over 40 years.
During his tenure, ConocoPhillips emerged as one of the largest independent oil and gas producers globally, with operations spanning strongly across North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and the Middle East.
Lance also oversaw a series of major portfolio moves, prominent of which were the sale of billions of dollars’ worth of noncore assets following the 2014 oil price collapse and price drops in 2020 after COVID-19 destroyed global demand.
Lance will transition as Executive Chair, and O’Brien will take over as CEO on September 1. Konnie Haynes-Welsh, who joined ConocoPhillips in 2012 as a finance vice president and controller, will become senior vice president and chief financial officer.
Khoa Dao, the current chief commercial officer, will become the senior vice president of commercial and strategy.
The venture posted an adjusted profit of USD 3.24 per share for the second quarter ended June 30, beating average analyst estimates of USD 2.88 per share. Revenue rose 32.4% to USD 19.5 billion in the quarter, beating estimates of USD 18.8 billion.
While ConocoPhillips’ production activities dipped nearly 6% to 2.25 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), the company’s average realized price was USD 62.33 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe), 36% higher than a year earlier. Permian Basin output rose to a record of more than 900,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Q2.
ConocoPhillips shares have gained over 24% so far in 2026. The company forecast Q3 production between 2.29 million boepd and 2.32 million boepd.
“The company’s cost-savings plan is progressing ahead of schedule,” Lance told us during the earnings call.
ConocoPhillips will be acquiring a 42% stake in a joint venture in the Kirkuk oilfields in northern Iraq. It has already signed an agreement to re-enter Syria.