ConocoPhillips announced this Thursday that its current president and CEO, Ryan Lance, will leave his position in September, a role he has held since 2012, to assume the chairmanship of the board of directors of the American oil company.
At the same time, the company has appointed Andy O'Brien, until now the chief financial officer and executive vice president of Strategy and Commercial, as the future president and CEO. For her part, Konnie Haynes-Welsh, who serves as vice president of Finance and Comptroller, will be promoted to senior vice president and chief financial officer.
"In 2012, he set the course for the newly formed independent ConocoPhillips, and during his tenure, the company established itself as a recognized leader in the sector as a global exploration and production company," noted Robert Niblock, lead independent director of ConocoPhillips, when evaluating Lance's time at the helm of the company.
Regarding the leadership change, Niblock emphasized that O'Brien is the right figure to steer the new phase of the oil company, bringing deep business knowledge and a solid track record of execution, having played a key role in the development of ConocoPhillips.
Andy O'Brien began his professional journey at Conoco in 1997 and has since held various positions of increasing responsibility in the areas of finance, planning, and strategy on a global scale, before joining the management team in 2022.
Since his entry into senior management, he has taken on leadership responsibilities over operations in Alaska and other international markets, in addition to overseeing commercial, LNG, finance, corporate strategy, investor relations, and mergers and acquisitions businesses.
The announcement of the leadership change coincides with the presentation of the second-quarter accounts, in which ConocoPhillips reported a net profit of $3.931 billion (€3.405 billion), nearly double that of the same period from the previous year, while revenue grew by 32.4%, to $19.522 billion (€16.909 billion).
"ConocoPhillips achieved excellent results in the second quarter, with exceptional operational performance, record production thanks to our leading position in the Permian Basin, and rigorous execution across the business, while we continue to advance our strategic priorities," declared Ryan Lance.
In the entirety of the first half of 2026, the oil company achieved a net profit of 6.114 billion dollars (5.296 billion euros), 27% more than in the same period of the previous year. In turn, the revenues for the semester increased by 11.7% year-on-year, reaching 35.576 billion dollars (30.815 billion euros).