Chairman Archie Dunham

Conoco divides its operations into three sectors:

Exploration and production - In 1999 Conoco turned out an average of 359,000 barrels or oil per day and 1.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas, from fields in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Refining, marketing, supply and transportation - Among the refineries owned by Conoco are four in the US and one in the UK - at Killingholme, near Grimsby. It is also supplies industrial lubricants and "speciality products".

Power - At the end of 1999, the company had two power generating plants, in Colombia and Texas, in the US. It was also developing another plant in Texas and one at the Killingholme refinery in the UK.

The company operates under the Jet brand in the UK

Like most firms in the oil producing field, Conoco has been targeted by environmental activists.

Earlier this month, protesters for Greenpeace staged a sit-in on a North Sea oilrig, the Drill Star, which Conoco had on lease.

Greenpeace cited Jet's alleged failure to adopt green fuels as its reason for targeting the US giant.

Despite the ill-will of eco-campaigners, Conoco has turned in a run of healthy business reports.

In January, it reported that net income had jumped 70% in the fourth quarter of 2000 to $550m, due to higher oil prices.