ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips explores for and produces oil and natural gas. Its operations span the U.S. Lower 48 states, Alaska, Canada and international markets. It also invests in liquefied natural gas projects and buys LNG for sale to customers. Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange as COP.

Energy prices are a major driver of profit and cash generation. The company keeps its production largely exposed to market prices, while using investment discipline, operating efficiencies and asset sales to shape returns.

Quarterly results

Quarterly results. Dollars in millions, except adjusted earnings per share. Production combines oil and gas, in thousands of barrels of oil equivalent per day. Q2 ends June 30; Q3 ends September 30.

Measure	Q3 2025	Q2 2026	Q3 2026
Sales and other operating revenue	$15,031	$19,161	$19,435
Net income	$1,726	$3,931	$4,001
Adjusted net income	$2,007	$3,951	$3,918
Adjusted EPS	$1.61	$3.24	$3.27
Production	2,399	2,248	2,302
Operating cash flow	$5,878	$7,434	$7,195
Capital spending and investments	$2,866	$3,024	$3,133
Company free cash flow	$2,500	$4,152	$4,039

Adjusted earnings exclude selected tax, transaction, restructuring, claims and other special items, with their tax effects. Adjusted EPS divides that profit by diluted shares. For free cash flow, ConocoPhillips first removes operating working-capital movements from operating cash flow, then subtracts capital spending and investments.

Higher realized energy prices drove the year-over-year profit improvement in the third quarter of 2026. Reported production fell 4%; after adjusting for completed acquisitions and disposals, the decline was about 2%. New U.S. wells helped offset lower net output from higher Surmont royalties and constrained Qatar operations.

Earlier expectations and the next plan

Third-quarter production of 2.302 million barrels of oil equivalent a day fell within the 2.29 million to 2.32 million range given in August. The fourth-quarter range is 2.32 million to 2.36 million.

Management's full-year 2026 outlook: August 6 compared with November 5. Production is in thousands of barrels of oil equivalent per day; financial amounts are in billions of dollars.

Measure	August	November
Production	2,295 to 2,325	2,295 to 2,325
Capital spending and investments	$12.0 to $12.5	$12.0 to $12.5
Adjusted Corporate and Other net loss	About $0.9	About $0.8

The Corporate and Other segment includes central costs, net interest and other items outside the geographic operating segments. Its adjusted net loss excludes identified special items.

The preliminary 2027 outline calls for modestly lower capital spending, low-single-digit underlying production growth and lower operating costs per unit. Management expects to return 45% of its working-capital-adjusted cash from operations to shareholders, matching the 2026 objective. The detailed 2027 budget has not been announced.

Cash, debt and shareholder returns

Operating cash flow for the first nine months of 2026 was $18.92 billion, up from $15.48 billion a year earlier. Company free cash flow rose to $10.63 billion from $6.02 billion. Share repurchases used $5.41 billion and ordinary dividends $3.06 billion.

At September 30, cash and equivalents were $7.77 billion and short-term investments were $2.16 billion. A further $452 million of restricted cash is included in the company's broader $10.4 billion cash-and-investments headline.

Debt carrying value, including finance leases, was $23.26 billion, compared with $23.29 billion at June 30 and $23.44 billion at the end of 2025. The current portion was $878 million. An undrawn revolving credit facility provided $5.5 billion of borrowing capacity through February 2030.

The quarterly dividend increased from 84 cents to 93 cents a share, payable December 1, 2026, to holders of record on November 16. Our analysis of ConocoPhillips' lower-spending plan examines the cash left after investment and shareholder payouts.

Completed transactions and major projects

The Marathon Oil acquisition expanded the Lower 48 portfolio. In July 2026, ConocoPhillips completed sales of noncore Lower 48 assets for about $1.7 billion, helping it reach its $5 billion disposal target ahead of schedule.

The proposed purchase of a 42% equity interest in a BP joint venture in northern Iraq remains subject to approvals and is expected to close by the end of 2026. ConocoPhillips is also evaluating a potential sale of its Norway business and Teesside asset after an unsolicited approach.

Willow's process-module fabrication is more than 75% complete, with first oil expected in early 2029. The new Surmont production pad started ahead of schedule in September 2026. Management expects North Field East LNG to start in the first half of 2027 and Port Arthur LNG to add commercial cash flow. Its roughly $7 billion free-cash-flow improvement goal for 2029, versus 2025, assumes WTI oil at $70 per barrel, European TTF gas at $10 and Henry Hub gas at $4 per million British thermal units.