ConocoPhillips : Transcript (conocophillips annual meeting051325 transcript)

Published: 2025-05-29 11:12:14 ET COP

Published on 05/29/2025 at 11:12

Please remember that you may vote your shares online at any time during this meeting prior to the closing of the polls, and you can submit questions through the text box located on your screen.

In addition to myself, all the members of our board of directors are present and participating in the meeting today, including Dennis V. Arriola. Dennis is the former Chief Executive Officer of Avangrid Incorporated. Nelda J. Connors, Nelda is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pine Grove Holdings, LLC. Gay Huey Evans, Gay is the former Chairman of the London Metal Exchange. Jeffrey A. Joerres, Jeffrey is the former Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ManpowerGroup Incorporated. Timothy A. Leach, Tim is the former Chief Executive Officer of Concho Resources and is currently serving ConocoPhillips as advisor to the Chief Executive Officer.

William H. McRaven, Bill is a retired U.S. Navy four-star Admiral and senior advisor at Lazard Financial. Sharmila Mulligan, Sharmila is the former Chief Strategy Officer at Alteryx. Arjun N. Murti, Arjun is a partner at Veriten LLC. Robert A. Niblock, Robert is the former Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Lowe's Company Incorporated. David T. Seaton, David is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fluor Corporation. And Al Walker, Al is the former Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.

On behalf of myself and our stockholders, I want to thank our board members for their dedication and willingness to serve.

Next, also here and participating in the meeting today are the other members of ConocoPhillips's Executive Leadership Team, which in addition to Tim and myself includes Bill Bullock, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Nick Olds, Executive Vice President Lower 48. Heather Hrap, our Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Real Estate and Facility Services. Kirk Johnson, our Senior Vice President Global Operations. Andrew Lundquist, our Senior Vice President, Government Affairs. Andy O'Brien, our Senior Vice President of Strategy, Commercial, Sustainability, and Technology. And Kelly Rose, our Senior Vice President, Legal, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary.

I want to remind everyone that during today's meeting, we may make forward-looking statements. This is our standard reminder that actual results can differ materially, and you should refer to our filings with the SEC for factors that could cause actual results to differ from our projections.

So now, I call the meeting to order. The meeting will consider the five business items on the agenda. We will present each of the four proposals submitted by management for approval, and then the stockholder representative will present his stockholder proposal, after which, we will answer stockholder questions during voting before we close the polls and announce the results.

Kelly, can you report whether a quorum is present for the conduct of business?

Item two on the agenda is a proposal to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2025. The Audit and Finance Committee reappointed Ernst & Young to serve as ConocoPhillips' independent registered public accounting firm for 2025 and seeks ratification of that appointment by the stockholders. As indicated in the Proxy Statement, representatives of Ernst & Young are here today and available to answer questions you may have for them during the stockholder question and answer session.

Item three on the agenda is an advisory proposal to approve the compensation of our named Executive Officers as disclosed in the Proxy Statement. As indicated in the Proxy Statement, the board of directors recommends that the stockholders vote for in favor of this proposal.

Item four on the agenda is the proposal to eliminate any voting requirement in our charter and by-laws that calls for greater than simple majority vote and replace it with a simple majority vote standard. As indicated in the Proxy Statement, the board of directors recommends that the stockholders vote in favor of this proposal.

And item five on the agenda is a stockholder proposal for the company to remove all emission reduction targets covering greenhouse gas emissions from its operations and energy products. As a courtesy, we permitted the proponent to prerecord their statement, and we will play such pre-recorded statement now on their behalf.

Management might talk a big game on climate change, but its actions tell a different story. Just months ago, the company closed a $22.5 billion acquisition of Marathon Oil, a deal that extends Conoco's shale footprint and locks in decades of hydrocarbon output. You don't spend that kind of money if you truly believe that the world is sprinting to net zero. Meanwhile, the climate crisis narrative used to justify ConocoPhillips' emissions reduction targets rests on the most alarmist projections of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel and Climate Change. Projections that many scientists now concede are wildly improbable.

Global temperatures have always fluctuated, and today's emissions from the United States represent barely one-tenth of the world total. Even if ConocoPhillips somehow hit net zero tomorrow, the effect on climate would round to next to zero while the damage to shareholders would be unmistakable. Our competitors abroad are drilling harder than ever. If we hamstring ourselves with self-inflicted quotas, investors will watch production shift to state-owned firms in Russia, Saudi Arabia, and China, entities with no regard for environmental stewardship.

ConocoPhillips instead should stick to what it does best - find, develop and sell energy that powers modern civilization, not chase politically driven metrics that deliver no measurable benefit to the planet and every conceivable cost to owners. A vote for item five restores strategic discipline, protects our expansion strategy, and reaffirms that this company exists to create value, not theatrical virtue signals. For these reasons, I urge my fellow shareholders to join me in voting for item five. Thank you.

If you have not already voted online, please do so at this time. I will close the polls at the end of the Q&A session.

Now, I will take questions from stockholders that have been submitted online. If we are unable to answer all questions due to time constraints, we will post answers to such questions in accordance with our meeting procedures and rules of conduct on our website by the end of the week. Questions and answers may be grouped by topic and substantially similar questions may be grouped and answered once. We also reserve the right to reject questions we deem inappropriate.

Kelly, can you please read one of the submitted stockholder questions?

The Committee on Directors' Affairs regularly evaluates the size and composition of the board and continually assesses whether the composition appropriately relates to ConocoPhillips' strategic needs, which change as the business environment evolves. We believe each of the 12 nominees for election this year brings valuable experience and unique perspectives to our board.

Kelly, can you read another question?

I'll take another question.

intensity target to 50-60% reduction from a 2016 baseline. The target covers Scope 1 and Scope 2 gross operated and net equity emissions. Our Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions and emissions intensity calculations directly measure our performance and help us understand climate-related risk.

We endorse the World Bank Zero Routine Flaring initiative and are on track to meet that goal for all assets, except those recently acquired from Marathon Oil. Consistent with that, we have set a target of near-zero methane intensity by 2030.

Let me take another question.

We also offer internship programs and contribute to the well-being of the communities in which we operate through charitable giving, employee volunteerism and civic leadership. We believe the most effective charitable investments are made through strategic relationships with organizations dedicated to serving our communities day in and day out. In addition, we are already taking a multilayered approach to cybersecurity risk management and strategy.

So thanks Kelly and thank you to our stockholders for your participation and input. Questions not answered during the meeting will have answers posted online by the end of the week.

So I now declare the polls closed. The Inspector of Election has filed a certification of the preliminary results of the voting. Kelly, could you please read those results?

The ratification of Ernst & Young as ConocoPhillips' independent auditors for the fiscal year 2025 has been approved, having received the favorable vote of more than 96% of the votes present at today's meeting.

The advisory approval of our executive compensation has passed with more than 96% of the votes present at today's meeting cast in favor of the proposal.

Disclaimer

ConocoPhillips published this content on May 29, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on May 29, 2025 at 15:11 UTC.