Ryan Lance CEO

In 2022, ConocoPhillips entered our second decade as an independent exploration and production company with enhanced efforts to deliver lower greenhouse gas (GHG)-intensity energy to the world while pursuing leadership in sustainability performance across a diverse portfolio. Energy supply and security were key themes globally, and rising energy demand and market volatility reinforced the importance of reliable and affordable energy. Throughout, our sustainable development performance remains a foundational element of our long-term value proposition.

The energy transition will be complex and evolve over decades. Natural gas and oil are projected to remain essential parts of the energy supply mix across a broad range of transition scenarios. An orderly transition is the best way to manage climate-related risk, without energy shortages, undue price increases or economic shock.

Since the publication of our last Sustainability Report, ConocoPhillips has continued to be guided by our Triple Mandate to reliably and responsibly deliver oil and gas production to meet energy transition demand while delivering competitive returns, all while achieving our net-zero operational GHG emissions ambition. We strengthened our commitment to our Paris-aligned climate risk framework with an updated target for reducing GHG operational emissions intensity and new methane reduction efforts. In 2023, we accelerated our GHG operational emissions intensity reduction target through 2030 from 40-50% to 50-60%, using a 2016 baseline.

Our 2022 sustainability reporting highlights water and biodiversity management efforts, with recognition of nature-related risks and impacts. Our business units continued to focus on minimizing fresh water use with research to develop and pilot technologies and processes to treat produced water for potential beneficial reuse. In 2022, fresh water accounted for only 7% of our total water use across our global operations, with the remaining 93% consisting of non-fresh water, municipal waste water and reused or recycled produced water. On the biodiversity front, over the past two decades more than 20 million acres have been conserved, restored and improved by conservation partners through continued collaboration with and support from ConocoPhillips. In the Permian Basin, we received the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Lone Star Land Steward Award for our conservation efforts, reflecting our company’s longstanding commitment to land preservation.

The Low Carbon Technologies organization continued its work to operationalize our net-zero ambition for Scope 1 and 2 emissions and understand the low carbon energy landscape, including emerging opportunities in carbon capture and storage and hydrogen. We’re using the same disciplined investment and capital allocation process we use throughout our portfolio to evaluate these low carbon solutions.

Building on 60 years of expertise, we’ve expanded our global LNG business. LNG is lower in GHG emissions intensity than other alternatives, particularly coal, and will be a key contributor to meeting energy transition demand. In 2022, we increased our ownership in Australia Pacific LNG, signed agreements with QatarEnergy to participate in the North Field East and the North Field South LNG projects and to jointly supply long-term LNG to Germany. In the U.S., we are working with Sempra Infrastructure to develop large-scale LNG along the Gulf Coast.

ConocoPhillips believes regular engagement with key stakeholders is integral to understanding interests, accelerating performance and supporting effective policy.

Collaborations that demonstrate our commitment include:

  • The Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 Initiative.
  • E&P Net-Zero Principles Roundtable, facilitated by Ceres.
  • Climate Leadership Council.
  • Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.

Collaboration also plays a key role in addressing the social and community aspects related to our operations and projects. We seek early and frequent engagement with our stakeholders. For example, on Alaska’s North Slope, our ongoing work to understand local perspectives and address community concerns has been crucial for our Willow project and will continue to be a cornerstone of our operations.

Meeting the world’s evolving energy needs requires attracting and retaining a world-class workforce and cultivating an inclusive environment where different backgrounds, experiences, ideas and perspectives are recognized, valued and respected. Having the best and brightest people that bring a passion and excitement for solving complex problems is a competitive advantage that leads to better business outcomes. That is why we’ve put an emphasis on — and are committed to — elevating DEI. In 2022, we took the important step of hiring a chief diversity officer and, over the course of the year, refreshed our DEI strategy.

Looking ahead, we intend to play a significant role in supporting a reliable and affordable energy future. As a best-in-class E&P company, our actions strive to balance the interests of our many stakeholders. We are committed to meaningful dialogue as we work to continuously improve our environmental and social performance. This allows us to understand stakeholder priorities and concerns, so that we can respond effectively to risks and opportunities throughout the energy transition.


Ryan Lance, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
July 2023