Hall of Fame

Jordan Soto, Hart Energy Staff: I'm Jordan Soto here for Hart Energy LIVE. We're at the 50th anniversary and Hall of Fame event. A lot of hall of famers here today. It's a momentous moment for the energy industry and Hart Energy LIVE as a whole. And with me, I have Archie Dunham, the emeritus chairman for ConocoPhillips.

Archie Dunham, former CEO, ConocoPhillips:  I can't believe that I'm included in this group of outstanding CEOs and wildcatters that have created such an industry over the last 165 years.

JS: Well, it's our pleasure to be able to recognize those hall of famers. And I have a quick question for you, Archie. What major energy sector moment or event had a huge impact on you?

AD: I think the most important accomplishment that I was able to do, when I was chairman and CEO of Conoco, this was before ConocoPhillips, is when we were able to separate Conoco from DuPont after 17 years in the largest initial public offering in the history of the New York Stock Exchange. So it was a really big event, and I remember when the board unanimously approved the separation and we were on Wall Street the next day announcing it to the public at a time when oil prices were down. And so a lot of the investment bankers were not sure that we were going to be successful. But it was a huge success and obviously had a major impact on my life and on our company and our employees. Four years later, we were able to do the merger of equals with Phillips and create ConocoPhillips. And at that time we were the largest oil and gas company in the United States. So those were really important events in my career.

JS: Now as we're talking about those huge moments and legacy, not just from those moments, but of the people, what's the enduring legacy of the honorees and the hall of famers that we have recognized with Hart Energy?

AD: Well, first of all, it's a real honor to be included in this group of 50 initial inductees into the Hart Energy Hall of Fame. I'm just glad I wasn't on the selection committee because there are a lot of people, a lot of major company CEOs and wildcatters, that I know personally that if I had been on the committee, I probably would've selected them instead of me. And so it is a great honor. This industry has been around for 165 years. I think we're going to be around for another hundred years.

I know we're going to transition perhaps out of fossil fuels over the next 100 years. And I guess that's probably important environmentally, but there are 8 billion people in the world today. Probably 5 billion of those people do not have air conditioning. They can't drive automobiles like we have here in Houston. They don't have heating in their homes, they don't have microwaves, they don't have electric gas or electric lights in their homes. And so we're going to go through a transition out of fossil fuels for sure out of coal, but I think it's going to be 75 to 100 years before we're completely out of the fossil fuels business.

JS: Well, we appreciate everything that you've been able to contribute to the energy industry and we look forward to where the energy industry is going to next. Thank you so much for being here and celebrating with us today.

AD: You bet. It's been my pleasure. Thank you so much, a great honor. Good to see you.

JS: This is Hart Energy LIVE's 50th anniversary and Hall of Fame celebration.

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