ConocoPhillips (‘COP’) has announced a leadership transition. Ryan Lance, who has been CEO for 14 years, transitions to Executive Chairman. Andy O’Brien, currently the Executive VP, Strategy, Commercial and Chief Financial Officer, becomes CEO. Konnie Haynes-Welsh, currently VP, Finance and Controller is promoted to CFO.
COP has its head office in west Houston and is the third largest Houston-area by market capitalization ($148 billion), behind ExxonMobil and Chevron.
Ryan Lance started in Alaska
Mr. Lance, 64, began his career with Arco Alaska, which was later acquired by BP. In 2001, he joined Phillips Petroleum as General Manager of the Lower 48 and Canadian operations. After the merger with Conoco, he was appointed VP of Lower 48 for the combined company. In his new role, his salary will reduce from $1.8 million to $1.1 million.
Mr. O’Brien, 50, started his career with Conoco in the United Kingdom in 1997 as a Financial Analyst. He spent time in finance roles in Calgary, Anchorage, Indonesia and Houston before becoming Senior VP, Global Operations in 2022. He became CFO in 2025 after his predecessor retired. Mr. O’Brien’s base salary will increase from $934k to $1.7 million.
Konnie Haynes-Welsh joined COP in 2012 as a Manager, SEC Compliance and has held various roles in the finance department. She is a graduate of the University of Texas and started her career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in 2000. She worked for Mariner Energy (later acquired by Apache) before joining COP. Ms. Haynes-Welsh will have a base salary of $743k.
Another Brit promoted
Greig Patterson, currently VP, Corporate Planning & Development, will become VP, Finance and Controller. He is another Brit, who started his career with BP as a Financial Analyst in Aberdeen. He joined COP in 2007 and has worked in Norway, Canada and Malaysia.
Big retention stock awards for key Executives
In addition to these changes, the company also gave Kirk Johnson, Executive VP, Global Operations and Technical Functions, a restricted stock unit award worth $5 million, that will vest on the fifth anniversary of the grant. Likewise, Nicholas golds, Executive VP, Lower 48 and Global HSE, is awarded a $3 million grant, that will vest after three years.
SEC filing 8-K – ConocoPhillips leadership transition