USA: ConocoPhillips Completes Spinoff of Its Downstream Business

ConocoPhillips announced that it has completed the spinoff of its downstream businesses to its stockholders. With the completion of this transaction, ConocoPhillips is the world’s largest independent exploration and production (E&P) company, based on proved reserves and production of liquids and natural gas.

“ConocoPhillips will truly be unique as an independent E&P company. Our unmatched size, scope and capability position us to compete successfully in this business,” said Ryan Lance, chairman and chief executive officer. “With an exclusive focus on exploration and production, we will pursue opportunities and take actions to create value for all our stakeholders. We will emphasize execution and operations excellence, the principles that made us what we are today and that will shape the ConocoPhillips of tomorrow.”

ConocoPhillips benefits from more than a century of experience and success achieved by its predecessor companies. The company has a presence and capability in key technology-driven resource opportunities globally. Among these are conventional and unconventional reservoirs, oil sands and heavy-oil deposits, liquefied natural gas, and deepwater and Arctic operations.

“As we move forward with today’s strong base, our vision is to pioneer a new standard of E&P excellence,” Lance said. “ConocoPhillips has always placed safety, health and environmental stewardship first, and this will not change. In addition, we have an unprecedented opportunity to unlock potential by combining the legacy of our world-class workforce, asset base, technical capability and financial capacity with the focus and culture of an independent company. We believe this will allow us to create value for all our stakeholders and deliver a compelling formula of profitable growth, strong financial returns and a sector-leading dividend.”

To effect the spinoff, ConocoPhillips stockholders received one share of Phillips 66 common stock for every two shares of ConocoPhillips common stock held on the record date of April 16, 2012. Phillips 66 is now an independent, publicly traded company in which ConocoPhillips retains no ownership interest.

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LNG World News Staff, May 2, 2012