Adapting to oil's new reality

The industry has been battered by price volatility over the past two years. For ConocoPhillips, adaptation is the key to not just surviving, but thriving

ConocoPhillips's boss Ryan Lance isn't waiting around for the oil market to ride to the rescue with higher prices. Instead, Lance is remaking the company he runs into one that can prosper in a world awash in crude and where oil prices may face downward pressure for years to come. "It's a well-supplied world when you look at what's happening in the Middle East, Russia, around the world and what's happening with the unconventionals. So that's what we worry about—how do you run your company at a lower price deck over time," Lance told AOGC Daily. Oil prices could see a rebound in the coming months as supply and demand come into balance and refiners ramp up, drawing down inventories, Lance says.