If you were CEO of ConocoPhillips what one thing would you change in order to make the company profitable again?
9 replies (most recent on top)
Well said 157522! But if you are correct (157617), maybe we "do" need to get a monkey to run the company!!!
If the operational folks don't know what they are doing blame management, not the operational folks. The company did not make money at $100 oil. The company has been cash flow negative from day one and covered operational expenses via asset sales and debt.
COP needs to stop operating like a integrated company. For all aspects, i.e. projects execution, organizational structure, etc... We have way too many managers with two direct repors that either need to be bundled up into another group, but a group that makes sense or done away with. AND YOUR COMPLETELY RIGHT Anonymous157235... At $100 oil we were making money despite how BAD we were as an operating company.. We have alot of operational folks that don't know what they are doing. To be honest all the major oil companies feel into this trap. Chevron, Marathon, Conocophillips,... We have way too many people that came from refineries and chemical plants that have a different idea for design of facilites. Exploration facilities are barebones, cheap but functional.. our folks want miniature refineries our there..
HR is headed to Wyoming on Monday.
An exponential pay cut.
With 5% at the bottom of the pyramid and 50% at the top.
The Top needs to give the most because they are the ones that got us here.
But that is just the start.
Just one thing won't do it.
Dear 157105, you must be one of the incompetent Managers or have the mentality to become one. As one Professer stated: "It must be nice to work in an industry "where",despite poor management, one can still make a profit. When oil prices are $100.00 a bbl, a monkey can manage to make a profit. When it goes down below $50.00 a bbl, that is where intelligent decisions and prior preparations need to have been made. Only truly Independent Oil Company's can operate profitable in the current environment. Why, because they do not have the beuroqricy and big pockets that we have. You have to think like Independent' to be an Independent and that is where the problem exist. We do not know how! I say, hire an n Independent oil and gas CEO and give him a fraction of the Salary to run the Companythat we are currently giving and hire top executives who have never worked for big oil to make decisions. Our current management would like to do that, they just don't know how.
The whole culture, or lack thereof. The only hope for COP shareholders is an acquisition of assets only (i.e., not including people, processes and organizations)!
The price of oil is the determining factor in profitability. The costs of production exceed the price of oil. Short of an increase in the price of oil the only option is to shut down production. Unfortunately production (at a loss) and asset sales are the only methods to generate revenue to service debt. Elimination of the salary of every employee in the company would not have a dent on the overall financial situation. The 100% E&P is a bet on the market and ConocoPhillips lost the bet. No business plan existed for oil below $60 per barrel at the split.
If I were CEO, I would retire with a golden parachute of roughly $250 million and suggest to my hand-picked successor to continue laying off people until revenue exceeded expenditures. I think that is the definition of profitable?