Thomas C. Knudson, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs and Communications

Mandy Tulloch, development coordinator for the Conoco Natural History Centre at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, shows off a large common house spider brought in for identification by a worried resident. ConocoPhillips provides financial support to the center that was established to promote environmental education in the community and at local schools.

Social Investment
Elevating Our Position
in the Global Community

More than just charitable, feel-good activities, social investment encompasses philanthropy and community outreach, and is important to ConocoPhillips’ approach for delivering superior financial results.

“Social investment positions ConocoPhillips positively with our customers, stakeholders and with government leaders,” says Tom Knudson, senior vice president of Government Affairs and Communications. “When we address local needs and environmental problems, host governments more readily view us as partners in their communities — creating favorable settings for our businesses to flourish.”

Reaching Outward
Community outreach activities harness employees’ sense of pride and desire to work for a good corporate citizen. In Houston, Texas, the Keep 5 Alive program mobilizes hundreds of employee and family volunteers to paint and repair homes of elderly and disabled homeowners in the inner city. In Alaska, employees contribute time and resources to the Red Cross Masters of Disaster program, teaching children how to survive natural disasters. ConocoPhillips continues to have a significant community presence in Oklahoma, where employee and company support of education, the arts and other charities in Bartlesville, Ponca City and throughout the state remain at pre-merger levels. Around the world, ConocoPhillips funds educational initiatives and community enrichment activities.

Taking Environmental Stewardship Seriously
The company works hard to be the neighbor of choice. In Alaska and Russia, ConocoPhillips uses ice roads to protect fragile tundra. The company’s environmental protection initiatives in Russia have been recognized with two annual Lomonosov Awards.

For more than 60 years, ConocoPhillips has carried out oil and gas exploration and development in the environmentally sensitive home of the endangered Aransas-Wood Buffalo Whooping Crane at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Limiting drilling activity to months when the flock summers in Canada, the company has proudly watched the flock increase from fewer than 20 birds to more than 180 birds.

Through its support of the International Crane Foundation, the company has enabled migration studies of waterfowl and their natural habitats along Bohai Bay’s coastal wetlands in northeastern China.

Meeting Present Needs Without Compromising the Future
Facilitating development in Venezuela’s Gulf of Paria, ConocoPhillips funds workshops on health and water purification for the local community and sponsors literacy and bilingual programs for the indigenous Warao. In Alberta, Canada, ConocoPhillips decreased forest fire potential, eliminated safety hazards and saved some $170,000 by using narrow clearing techniques to make a path through dense forest to lay seismic survey lines.

“Through our global operations, ConocoPhillips works to maximize financial performance while providing shareholders with an attractive return on investment,” says Knudson. “Success means combining economic performance, environmental stewardship and social investment as interdependent parts of a single business approach.”