Formed from a merger between Conoco and Phillips Petroleum Company in 2002, ConocoPhillips has grown even larger through its $35 billion acquisition of Burlington Resources in 2006. The ever-expanding company sells gasoline at 11,800 U.S. service stations under the brands 76, Conoco, and Phillips 66. In 2005, ConocoPhillips made about $185 billion in sales.
BLACK MARKS
In 2002, the Political Economy Research Institute rated ConocoPhillips the third-worst polluter in the United States based on EPA emissions data.
In August 2004, the EPA fined ConocoPhillips for Clean Water Act violations at its drilling sites in Cook Inlet, Alaska. The company had violated its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit 470 times over a five-year period.
Earlier in 2004, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) had fined ConocoPhillips for Clean Air Act violations at its "hallmark" Alpine oil field. High carbon monoxide emissions from turbines had exceeded permitted air-quality levels. These fines followed a history of Clean Air Act violations at Alpine even before it began production. During development drilling in 1999, ADEC had fined ConocoPhillips for three permit violations for excess emissions. The Alpine oil field began producing in 2000, and by January 2001, ADEC found high emissions of nitrogen oxides.
STANCE ON GLOBAL WARMING
In 2005, ConocoPhillips released about 54 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Its numbers have remained steady since 2003.
As a member of the Business Roundtable (see ExxonMobil example above), ConocoPhillips opposes mandatory caps on greenhouse-gas emissions.
GREEN INITIATIVES
In 2005, ConocoPhillips spent $500,000 to launch the Spirit of Conservation Migratory Bird Program, a grant-giving organization dedicated to helping protect birds and their habitats worldwide.
ConocoPhillips backs the Nature Conservancy's work to restore tallgrass prairie in Oklahoma.
The company maintains a fleet of double-hulled tankers, which helps reduce the risks of oil spills in collisions.
