ConocoPhillips Essay ⋆ Business Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ConocoPhillips operates in the energy sector and has operations in 40 countries. Conoco and Phillips merged in 2002 and created ConocoPhillips, which then acquired Burlington Resources in 2006. ConocoPhillips currently employs 33,000 people and has US$183 billion of assets. ConocoPhillips was ranked 9th, 10th, and 12th in 2007, 2006, and 2005, respectively, in the Fortune Global 500 list. ConocoPhillips is the third largest integrated energy company in the United States in terms of market capitalization and oil and natural gas reserves. Among key competitive advantages of ConocoPhillips are reservoir management and exploration, 3-D seismic technology, high-grade petroleum coke upgrading, and sulfur removal.

Conoco, called the Continental Oil and Transportation Co. in 1875 when it was established, was one of the first petroleum marketers in the West. Conoco’s founder, Isaac E. Blake, started the company out of his vision of lighting houses using kerosene instead of candles and whale oil. The company introduced many new products such as benzene to clean stoves, candles, ready-mixed paints, hoof oil for horses, and even a popular medicinal ointment.

In 2002 Conoco decided to merge with Phillips Co. Phillips, then called Phillips Petroleum Company, was established in 1907 in Oklahoma. The founders, brothers named Frank and L. E. Phillips, both had an entrepreneurial spirit and were innovative. The Phillips brothers pioneered the natural gas industry by opening in 1917 the first natural gasoline plant for extracting liquid by-products from natural gas, which allowed the liquid by-products to be used in motor fuels. The company continued to research new opportunities, including gas-processing plant technologies. The company formed its research and development group to continue its innovations; its focus on research and development and innovation continues today.

Burlington Resources was established in the 1860s. The discovery of oil and gas on the company’s land brought change in the 1980s, and Burlington Resources expanded into the oil and gas industry. During the 1990s, Burlington Resources became the nation’s largest independent natural gas exploration and production company. In 2006 ConocoPhillips acquired Burlington Resources.

The operations of ConocoPhillips are as follows. The exploration and production group explores and produces oil, natural gas, and natural liquids around the world; this group has exploration operations in 23 countries and production facilities in 16 countries. Another group is responsible for refining, marketing, and transporting oil, and is the second-largest refiner in the United States, with 12 U.S. refineries, six in Europe, and one in Asia. The natural gas gathering, processing, and marketing group is responsible for the natural gas operations of ConocoPhillips and has 63 natural gas processing plants. The chemicals and plastics group produces chemicals and plastics through Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, a joint venture with Chevron and one of the world’s largest producers of many chemical and plastic related products. In addition to these four groups, ConocoPhillips focuses on developing new energy sources and technologies from conventional to heavy oil and natural gas to alternative supplies of energy. Among its emerging businesses are biofuels, power generation, and proprietary technologies.

Conoco was the first company that established filling stations and constructed refineries, and it developed and received a patent for the Vibrosis method of seismic oil exploration in the United States. Phillips was the first company to develop and market propane for home heating and cooking, built the first long-distance multiproduct pipeline, and invented a process to make high-octane gasoline possible. The acquisition of Burlington Resources enhanced the company’s position as a leading producer and marketer of natural gas. ConocoPhillips’s recent activities remain innovative and include commercial production of renewable diesel fuel, the first Alpine satellite oil field, a global water sustainability center, and a partnership with Tyson Foods, Inc., to produce renewable diesel fuel.

Bibliography:

Carey et al., Harvard Business Review on Mergers & Acquisitions (Harvard Business School Press, 2001);
ConocoPhillips Company, conocophillips.com (cited March 2009).

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