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ConocoPhillips CEO Lance to retire, replaced by CFO O’Brien
Oil giant announces changes effective Sept. 1
| Updated:
Ryan Lance in 2023. (F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg)
Key Takeaways:
- ConocoPhillips said Aug. 6 that CEO Ryan Lance will retire Sept. 1 and CFO Andy O’Brien will succeed him as chief executive.
- The leadership transition affects one of the largest oil companies, with Lance citing free cash flow growth, shareholder returns and energy demand.
- Lance will become executive chair, Konnie Haynes-Welsh will become CFO and ConocoPhillips shares rose 1% in premarket trading Aug. 6.
ConocoPhillips announced that Ryan Lance will retire after 14 years as the top boss and be succeeded by his financial chief Andy O’Brien next month.
Lance will become executive chair of the board, and Konnie Haynes-Welsh, vice president for finance and controller, will become chief financial officer, the oil giant announced Aug. 6 in a statement.
ConocoPhillips becomes the latest major U.S. shale company since last year to see a retirement in its CEO suite after Occidental Petroleum Corp., Devon Energy Corp. and Diamondback Energy Inc., and the biggest global oil producer to welcome a new boss since BP Plc in April.
Lance, 64, transformed ConocoPhillips into an exploration and production giant, becoming CEO of the upstream company that was split out from its downstream business Phillips 66 in 2012.
The petroleum engineer from Montana Tech led the expansion of ConocoPhillips, which started with assets valued at an estimated $110 billion, into a market capitalization of $138 billion today that has even surpassed fully integrated supermajor BP.
Lance’s COVID-era shale deals in particular transformed ConocoPhillips into a Permian powerhouse, buying Concho Resources for $13 billion in 2021 and Shell’s Permian Basin assets later that year for $9.5 billion, cementing the company as one of the top operators in North America’s hottest oil patch.
NEWS RELEASE: ConocoPhillips announces planned leadership succession: Andy O’Brien named president and CEO, Ryan Lance to assume transitional executive chair role, Konnie Haynes-Welsh appointed CFO https://t.co/waBfCPFuXj — ConocoPhillips News (@cop_newsroom) August 6, 2026
“While Andy O’Brien’s position as the likely successor to CEO Lance has been well telegraphed and anticipated by the investment community, we think the timing will still come as a surprise as most investors (including us),” Arun Jayaram, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co., wrote Aug. 6 in a note to investors. “While we believe Andy is the right person to lead the company on a go forward basis, we do believe the stock’s valuation appropriately embedded a ‘Ryan Lance premium’ given his unparalleled track record of counter-cyclical investing and prudent portfolio management decisions over the past 10+ years.”
NEWS RELEASE: ConocoPhillips announces second-quarter 2026 results and quarterly dividend https://t.co/hVd8boLfOu — ConocoPhillips News (@cop_newsroom) August 6, 2026
O’Brien, who began his career when the company was simply named Conoco in 1997, has held a number of leadership roles with the Houston-based operator including its Alaska and international units, as well as its liquefied natural gas business.
He most recently warned investors on the earnings call three months ago that the Iran war was creating critical shortages of oil for some nations. The company posted second-quarter earnings results on Aug. 6 that beat analysts’ expectations.
Shares of ConocoPhillips, which have 23 buy ratings, eight holds and 1 sell, rose 1% in pre-market trading on Thursday. The shares have climbed 24% over the past 12 months, greater than the S&P 500 or Brent oil.
