ConocoPhillips History

Company Perspectives:

Purpose: Use our pioneering spirit to responsibly deliver energy to the world.

Key Dates:

1875:

Isaac Elder Blake founds the Continental Oil & Transportation Company in Ogden, Utah.

1885:

Standard Oil Co. takes control of Continental, which is merged with Standard's Rocky Mountain operations and reincorporated in Colorado as the Continental Oil Company.

1903:

Brothers Frank and L.E. Phillips form the Anchor Oil and Gas Company.

1913:

Following the U.S. Supreme Court-ordered breakup of Standard Oil, Continental Oil becomes an independent company once again.

1914:

Continental builds its first gas station.

1916:

Continental diversifies into oil production with the purchase of United Oil Company.

1917:

The Phillips brothers found Phillips Petroleum Company to acquire Anchor Oil and Gas; headquarters are established in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

1919:

Continental adopts a new trademark featuring the word "Conoco."

1927:

Phillips Petroleum enters the refining and marketing businesses, opening its first gas station in Wichita, Kansas, under the Phillips 66 brand name.

1929:

Continental merges with Marland Oil Company; the new company takes the Continental name but is headquartered in Ponca City, Oklahoma, where Marland had been based.

1948:

Phillips Chemical Company is formed as a subsidiary.

1950:

Continental relocates its headquarters to Houston.

1969:

Phillips Petroleum makes its biggest discovery, the Greater Ekofisk field under the Norwegian North Sea.

1979:

Continental Oil changes its name to Conoco Inc.

1981:

To fend off hostile takeovers, Conoco agrees to be acquired by E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) for $7.4 billion.

1983:

General American Oil Company is acquired by Phillips; Conoco's headquarters are shifted to Wilmington, Delaware.

1984:

Phillips fends off a takeover attempt by T. Boone Pickens, Jr.

1985:

Phillips fends off a takeover attempt by Carl Icahn, running debt up to $8.9 billion in the process; massive restructuring commences.

1987:

Conoco moves its headquarters back to Houston.

1998:

DuPont sells 30 percent of its Conoco stake to the public in a $4.4 billion public offering; Phillips completes Ekofisk II in the Norwegian North Sea.

1999:

DuPont divests its remaining 70 percent interest in Conoco.

2000:

Phillips' natural gas gathering, processing, and marketing operations are combined with those of Duke Energy Corporation to form Duke Energy Field Services, 30.3 percent owned by Phillips; the company doubles its oil and gas reserves through its biggest acquisition in company history, a $7 billion deal for the Alaskan assets of Atlantic Richfield; Phillips combines its worldwide chemicals businesses with those of Chevron to form a 50-50 joint venture called Chevron Phillips Chemical Company.

2001:

Phillips acquires Tosco Corporation, a major U.S. refiner and gasoline retailer, for $7.36 billion; Conoco acquires Calgary-based Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. for $4.33 billion.

2002:

Phillips Petroleum and Conoco merge, forming ConocoPhillips in a $15.12 billion deal.

Company History:

Further Reading:

• Banham, Russ, Conoco: 125 Years of Energy, Lyme, Conn.: Greenwich, 2000.
• Barrionuevo, Alexei, "Chevron and Phillips to Form Venture with $5.7 Billion in Revenue," Wall Street Journal, February 8, 2000, p. A4.
• ------, "Phillips Petroleum to Delay Finding Partner for Venture," Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2000, p. A6.
• ------, "Suit Over BP Amoco-Arco Pact Halted: Move Follows Disclosure of Phillips Plan to Buy Arco's Alaskan Assets," Wall Street Journal, March 16, 2000, p. A3.
• Barrionuevo, Alexei, and Steve Liesman, "Phillips Petroleum, in Strategy Shift, Seeks Sales or Ventures for Some Units," Wall Street Journal, September 24, 1999, p. B6.
• Biesada, Alexandra, "The Levitation," Financial World, June 23, 1992, p. 36.
• Blalock, Dawn, "Phillips Petroleum, Long Buried in Debt, Frees Itself," Wall Street Journal, April 15, 1996, p. B3.
• Blumenthal, Karen, and Christopher Cooper, "Phillips and Ultramar Call Off Plans to Join Refining, Marketing Operations," Wall Street Journal, March 22, 1999, p. B8.
• Borrego, Anne Marie, "Phillips Petroleum to Cut Staff by 8 Percent, Capital Spending," Wall Street Journal, January 7, 1999, p. A4.
• ------, "Ultramar Diamond Shamrock, Phillips to Combine Refineries and Gas Stations," Wall Street Journal, October 9, 1998, p. A3.
• Brown, Wesley, and John Stancavage, "Phillips Called Ripe for Merger," Tulsa World, August 19, 1998.
• "Chevron, Phillips to Form Giant Chemical JV," Oil and Gas Journal, February 14, 2000, pp. 24-25.
• Conoco: The First One Hundred Years, New York: Dell Publishing, 1975.
• "Conoco's Takeover of Gulf Canada Leads Latest Merger Wave," Oil and Gas Journal, June 4, 2001, pp. 36-37.
• Davis, Michael, "Conoco: How the Leopard Changed Its Spots," Houston Chronicle, November 17, 1998.
• ------, "Oil Firm to Deal Service Stations: ConocoPhillips Selling More Assets," Houston Chronicle, January 9, 2003.
• Deogun, Nikhil, and Alexei Barrionuevo, "Phillips to Buy Tosco in $7.49 Billion Deal: Move Reflects Strategy Shift for Firm That Set Focus on Output, Exploration," Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2001, p. A3.
• Deogun, Nikhil, Alexei Barrionuevo, and Tamsin Carlisle, "Conoco Reaches Deal to Buy Gulf Canada for About $4.33 Billion, Debt Assumption," Wall Street Journal, May 29, 2001, p. A3.
• de Rouffignac, Ann, "Conoco Goes Through a Changing of the Guard," Houston Business Journal, December 1, 1995, p. 16.
• Finney, Robert, et al., Phillips: The First 66 Years, Bartlesville, Okla.: Phillips Petroleum Company, 1983.
• Fletcher, Sam, "Merger Done: ConocoPhillips Now Third Largest U.S. Oil Firm," Oil and Gas Journal, September 9, 2002, p. 42.
• Fletcher, Sam, and David Young, "Phillips, Conoco Plan $35 Billion 'Merger of Equals,'" Oil and Gas Journal, November 26, 2001, pp. 26, 28.
• Frank, Robert, and Alexei Barrionuevo, "Phillips Petroleum, Conoco Agree to Merge," Wall Street Journal, November 19, 2001, p. A3.
• Fritsch, Peter, "Conoco Proposes to Develop Gas Field in Mexican Sector Closed to Foreigners," Wall Street Journal, January 9, 1996, p. A4.
• Gill, Douglas, "Fillip for Phillips: An Exciting New Find Brightens Its Future," Barron's, November 1, 1982, pp. 13+.
• Gold, Jackey, "Phillips Petroleum: Take a Trip on Route 66," Financial World, October 15, 1991, pp. 16+.
• Holloway, Nigel, "Conoco Discovers Asia," Far Eastern Economic Review, October 26, 1995, p. 78.
• "How They Won the West--and More," Business Week, January 28, 1967.
• Jones, Billy M., "L.E. Phillips: Banker, Oil Man, Civic Leader," Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Heritage Association, 1981.
• Kelly, Kevin, "You Got Trouble Right Here in Ponca City: A Bitter Dispute Over Whether Its Conoco Refinery Is a Toxic Hazard," Business Week, June 27, 1988, p. 38.
• Knowles, Ruth Sheldon, The Greatest Gamblers: The Epic of American Oil Exploration, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1978.
• Kvendseth, Stig S., "Giant Discovery: A History of Ekofisk Through the First 20 Years," Tananger, Norway: Phillips Petroleum Company Norway, 1988.
• Liesman, Steve, "Phillips Petroleum Again Is Hunting for Partner, with Chevron a Possibility," Wall Street Journal, September 20, 1999, p. A4.
• ------, "Phillips Petroleum CEO Says Discovery in China Is Stronger Than Expected," Wall Street Journal, February 9, 2000, p. A10.
• Mathews, John Joseph, Life and Death of an Oilman: The Career of E.W. Marland, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1951.
• McWilliams, Gary, Joseph Weber, and Susan Garland, "Why Didn't Conoco See This One Coming?: Washington's Signals on Iran May Have Been Too Subtle," Business Week, March 27, 1995, pp. 40-41.
• Meyer, Richard, "The Final Straw," Financial World, January 26, 1988, pp. 39+.
• Norman, James R., "The Sharks Keep Circling Phillips," Business Week, February 11, 1985, pp. 24+.
• ------, "What the Raiders Did to Phillips Petroleum," Business Week, March 17, 1986, pp. 102+.
• "Phillips Aims at 'Built-in Value,'" Business Week, June 27, 1959.
• "Phillips, Duke Enter Agreement to Combine Certain Businesses," Oklahoma City Journal Record, December 17, 1999.
• "Phillips Petroleum: Laying the Groundwork," Forbes, February 1, 1965.
• "Phillips to Acquire Tosco in Multibillion-Dollar Deal," Oil and Gas Journal, February 12, 2001, pp. 33-35.
• Plishner, Emily S., "The Dilemma: Will DuPont's New CEO Spin Off Conoco?," Financial World, December 5, 1995, p. 34.
• Ray, Russell, "Phillips' 'Final Step,'" Tulsa World, February 6, 2001.
• "Risk and Return," Economist, April 27, 1996, p. 66.
• Rosett, Claudia, and Allanna Sullivan, "Conoco Tests the Tundra for Oil Profits," Wall Street Journal, September 1, 1994, p. A6.
• Rublin, Lauren R., "Phillips Pays the Price and T. Boone Pickens Makes Another Big Score," Barron's, December 31, 1984, pp. 13+.
• Ryan, Christopher, "Phillips Plans Cutbacks," Tulsa Tribune, November 21, 1991, p. 1A.
• Schein, Chris, "Phillips Has Plans for More Layoffs," Tulsa World, November 13, 1991, p. B1.
• Smith, Rebecca, "Duke Energy and Phillips Petroleum Form Gas-Gathering, Processing Firm," Wall Street Journal, December 17, 1999, p. A4.
• Sullivan, Allanna, "Conoco's Dunham Makes Bold Moves to Hit Big Goals," Wall Street Journal, June 3, 1997, p. B4.
• Tuttle, Ray, "Deep Drilling: Phillips Believes Mahogany Field May Contain 100 Million Barrels of Oil," Tulsa World, September 1, 1996, p. E1.
• Vogel, Todd, "Phillips Climbs Up from the Bottom of the Barrel," Business Week, January 16, 1989.
• Wallis, Michael, "Oil Man: The Story of Frank Phillips and the Birth of Phillips Petroleum," New York: Doubleday, 1988.
• Warren, Susan, "DuPont Plans to Shed Conoco Oil Unit," Wall Street Journal, May 12, 1998, p. A2.
• ------, "DuPont, Seeking to Shed Rest of Conoco, Offers $11.65 Billion Swap of Shares," Wall Street Journal, July 12, 1999, p. A3.

Source: International Directory of Company Histories, Vol.63. St. James Press, 2004.