Ryan Lance

Ryan Michael Lance
Born	21 5, 1962
Birthplace	Blytheville, Arkansas, United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Corporate executive, engineer
Title	Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Employer	ConocoPhillips
Known for	Chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips
Education	Montana Technological University (BS)
Awards	Energy Executive of the Year (2025)

Ryan Michael Lance (born May 21, 1962) is an American engineer and corporate executive who has served as the chairman and chief executive officer of ConocoPhillips, one of the world's largest independent exploration and production (E&P) companies, since May 2012. Born in Blytheville, Arkansas, Lance rose through the ranks of the oil and gas industry over the course of more than three decades, holding a succession of operational and leadership positions before assuming the top role at ConocoPhillips shortly after the company completed its separation from its downstream refining and marketing operations. Under his leadership, ConocoPhillips has undergone significant strategic transformations, including large-scale portfolio optimization, major acquisitions, and a sustained focus on shareholder returns and capital discipline. In 2025, Lance was named Energy Executive of the Year by Energy Intelligence, a recognition of his stewardship of one of the industry's most prominent companies during a period of considerable market volatility and transition. Lance has remained a prominent voice in discussions about the future of the global energy industry, frequently speaking publicly about oil market dynamics, U.S. shale production, and energy policy.

Early Life

Ryan Michael Lance was born on May 21, 1962, in Blytheville, Arkansas, a small city in the northeastern corner of the state situated in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. Details about Lance's family background and upbringing in Blytheville are not extensively documented in publicly available sources. However, his trajectory from a small Arkansas town to the helm of a major multinational energy corporation reflects a career built through technical education and progressive advancement within the oil and gas industry.

Lance grew up during a period in which the American energy sector was undergoing dramatic shifts, including the 1973 oil crisis and the subsequent energy policy debates of the late 1970s. These formative years coincided with heightened national awareness of energy security and the strategic importance of domestic oil and gas production—themes that would later become central to Lance's professional career.

Education

Lance attended Montana Technological University (commonly known as Montana Tech), located in Butte, Montana, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree. Montana Tech is a public university with a long-standing reputation in engineering, science, and natural resource disciplines, and has historically produced graduates who go on to careers in the mining and petroleum industries. Lance's engineering education at Montana Tech provided the technical foundation for his subsequent career in the upstream oil and gas sector. The university's emphasis on practical, applied science and its close ties to the extractive industries made it a fitting academic home for someone who would spend his career in petroleum exploration and production.

Career

Early Career and Rise Through the Ranks

After completing his education at Montana Tech, Lance entered the oil and gas industry, where he would spend his entire professional career. He joined the predecessor organizations of what would eventually become ConocoPhillips, progressing through a series of increasingly senior operational and leadership roles. Over the course of more than two decades, Lance gained experience across multiple facets of the upstream business, including exploration, production, operations management, and strategic planning. His career trajectory took him through various domestic and international assignments, providing him with broad exposure to the company's global portfolio of assets.

Lance's early career positions involved hands-on engineering and operational work, which gave him deep technical knowledge of the E&P business. As he advanced, he took on roles with greater strategic and managerial responsibility, overseeing business units and major capital projects. This progression through the organization's technical and managerial ranks was characteristic of the career development path within large integrated oil companies, where senior leaders are typically expected to have extensive operational experience before assuming corporate-level positions.

Appointment as Chairman and CEO

In May 2012, Ryan Lance was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of ConocoPhillips. His appointment came at a pivotal moment in the company's history. In April 2012, ConocoPhillips had completed the spin-off of its downstream refining, marketing, and chemicals businesses into a separate publicly traded company, Phillips 66. This corporate restructuring transformed ConocoPhillips from a vertically integrated oil major into the world's largest independent E&P company by production and proved reserves at the time.

Lance was selected to lead the newly focused E&P company through this transition. The separation was intended to allow each entity to pursue distinct strategic priorities: ConocoPhillips would concentrate on exploration and production, while Phillips 66 would focus on downstream and midstream operations. Lance's appointment signaled the company's commitment to an upstream-focused strategy built around operational efficiency, portfolio management, and capital discipline.

Strategic Transformation and Portfolio Optimization

Under Lance's leadership, ConocoPhillips underwent a series of significant strategic changes aimed at improving the company's competitive position and financial performance. A central element of Lance's strategy involved optimizing the company's asset portfolio through a combination of divestitures and targeted acquisitions. The company sold non-core and higher-cost assets while concentrating investment in its most productive and lowest-cost resource base, particularly in North American unconventional plays.

Lance emphasized a strategy of capital discipline, which involved maintaining spending within the company's cash flow, returning capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, and maintaining a strong balance sheet. This approach reflected a broader shift in the E&P industry during the mid-2010s, as companies faced investor pressure to prioritize returns over production growth following the oil price downturn of 2014–2016.

The company's strategic focus under Lance centered on its position in key basins, including the Permian Basin, the Eagle Ford, the Bakken, and its legacy assets in Alaska and international operations. ConocoPhillips also maintained a significant presence in international E&P activities, including operations in Canada, Norway, Australia, and other regions.

Major Acquisitions

A defining feature of Lance's tenure has been the execution of several large-scale acquisitions that expanded ConocoPhillips's resource base and production capacity. These transactions reinforced the company's position as the largest independent E&P company and demonstrated Lance's willingness to pursue strategic consolidation opportunities within the upstream sector.

The acquisitions under Lance's leadership reflected a strategy of adding low-cost supply resources at scale, consistent with the company's emphasis on cost competitiveness and long-term value creation. By acquiring established producing assets and development-ready acreage, ConocoPhillips was able to bolster its inventory of drilling locations and production growth potential without relying solely on organic exploration.

Workforce Restructuring (2025)

In September 2025, ConocoPhillips announced plans to reduce its workforce by up to 25%, a decision that drew significant attention within the energy industry and the broader business community. In a communication to employees, Lance acknowledged personal responsibility for the situation, stating, "I fault myself for not paying more attention." Lance explained that the job cuts were necessary to address organizational redundancies and to position the company for long-term competitiveness. The restructuring was one of the largest workforce reductions in the company's recent history and underscored the ongoing pressures facing the oil and gas industry, including commodity price volatility and the need for operational efficiency in a period of energy transition.

The announcement was significant not only for its scale but also for Lance's candid public acknowledgment of leadership responsibility. His remarks to employees were widely reported in the business press and reflected an unusual degree of personal accountability from a Fortune 500 chief executive regarding a major corporate restructuring decision.

Oil Market Commentary and Industry Views

Lance has been a frequent commentator on oil market dynamics and energy policy, regularly appearing at industry conferences and in media interviews. In October 2025, speaking at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London, Lance challenged prevailing bearish narratives about the global oil market, arguing that forecasts of oversupply were not consistent with conditions observable in the physical market. "All the talk of oversupply in oil markets isn't showing up in physical trade," Lance stated, suggesting that market sentiment and actual supply-demand fundamentals were diverging.

In a May 2025 interview with Bloomberg Television, Lance discussed the growth potential of U.S. shale production, indicating that the American shale industry could continue to grow with oil prices in the high $60 to $70 per barrel range. This assessment provided an important data point for analysts and investors seeking to understand the price thresholds at which U.S. shale production remains economically viable and can support continued growth.

Venezuela Dispute

ConocoPhillips has maintained a longstanding legal and financial dispute with Venezuela stemming from the nationalization of the company's oil assets in the country nearly two decades ago. Under Lance's leadership, the company has pursued legal remedies and sought compensation for the expropriated assets. In early 2026, Lance indicated that the company's priority in Venezuela remained recouping the billions of dollars it is owed before considering any return to drilling operations in the country. The dispute has been one of the most high-profile international arbitration cases in the energy sector and has had implications for broader discussions about sovereign risk and resource nationalism in the global oil industry.

Engagement with U.S. Government

Lance has engaged with senior levels of the U.S. government on energy policy matters. In January 2026, ConocoPhillips confirmed that Lance would attend a meeting at the White House, reflecting the company's status as a major participant in the American energy sector and the ongoing dialogue between the federal government and the oil and gas industry on matters of energy production, regulation, and policy. The meeting was part of broader discussions between the administration and energy industry leaders at a time when the company was also monitoring market developments and geopolitical factors affecting the global energy landscape.

Personal Life

Ryan Lance maintains a relatively private personal life. Publicly available biographical sources provide limited details about his family or interests outside of his professional career. Lance is known primarily through his role as the leader of ConocoPhillips and his public engagements in connection with the company's business activities and industry events.

Lance has been based in Houston, Texas, which serves as the headquarters of ConocoPhillips and is the center of the American oil and gas industry. His public appearances and statements have generally focused on business strategy, energy market analysis, and corporate governance rather than personal matters.

Recognition

In October 2025, Ryan Lance was named Energy Executive of the Year for 2025 by Energy Intelligence, a leading provider of news and analysis for the global energy industry. The award recognized Lance's leadership of ConocoPhillips during a period of significant corporate transformation, including major acquisitions, portfolio optimization, and the navigation of volatile commodity markets. The Energy Executive of the Year designation is one of the most prominent individual honors in the international energy sector, and Lance's selection reflected his standing among peers and industry analysts.

Lance has been included in the Forbes list of notable executives, which profiles the leaders of major American corporations. His tenure at ConocoPhillips has been the subject of extensive coverage in financial and energy industry media, including Reuters, Bloomberg, and specialized energy publications.

The Energy Intelligence Forum appearance in London in October 2025, where Lance delivered remarks on oil market conditions, further underscored his role as one of the most prominent voices in the global energy industry. His willingness to publicly challenge prevailing market narratives and to speak candidly about corporate decisions, including the workforce restructuring, has contributed to his profile as a notable figure in the American business community.

Legacy

Ryan Lance's leadership of ConocoPhillips has encompassed a period of substantial change in both the company and the broader energy industry. Taking the helm of ConocoPhillips immediately after the company's transformative separation from Phillips 66 in 2012, Lance has overseen the company's evolution into a focused independent E&P entity with a strategy built around low-cost supply, capital discipline, and shareholder returns.

His tenure has coincided with some of the most consequential developments in the modern oil and gas industry, including the U.S. shale revolution, the oil price collapse of 2014–2016, the global energy transition debate, the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on energy demand, and subsequent periods of price recovery and market volatility. Through these cycles, Lance has maintained a consistent strategic focus on financial discipline and portfolio quality, an approach that has become influential within the broader independent E&P sector.

The large-scale acquisitions completed under Lance's leadership have reshaped ConocoPhillips's asset base and competitive position, consolidating the company's standing as the largest independent E&P company. At the same time, the 2025 workforce reduction illustrated the challenges of integration and the ongoing pressures to maintain efficiency in a cyclical industry.

Lance's public commentary on energy markets and policy has contributed to broader industry discussions about the role of oil and gas in the global energy mix, the economics of U.S. shale production, and the relationship between energy companies and governments. His career, spanning more than three decades in the upstream oil and gas industry, represents a case study in the leadership challenges associated with managing a major energy company through periods of profound structural and market change.