ConocoPhillips board of directors has chosen its leaders for the two independent energy companies that will result from the strategic repositioning of ConocoPhillips. Ryan M. Lance will become the chairman and chief executive officer of ConocoPhillips, the upstream company, and Greg C. Garland will become the chairman and chief executive officer of the downstream company. The current chairman and chief executive officer of ConocoPhillips, Jim Mulva, will retire once the separation is complete. The repositioning is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2012. Currently, Lance holds the position of senior vice president, Exploration and Production, International for ConocoPhillips. A petroleum engineer, he holds more than 26 years of oil and natural gas industry experience in senior management and technical roles with ConocoPhillips, predecessor Phillips Petroleum and various divisions of ARCO. Lance had this to say about his new role: “I am honored to lead the highly skilled and dedicated people at ConocoPhillips into the next chapter of its distinguished history as a pure-play exploration and production company.” Garland is presently senior vice president, Exploration and Production, Americas for ConocoPhillips. He began his career as a project engineer with Phillips Petroleum and has been a part of ConocoPhillips and its affiliated companies for more than 31 years since then. From 2008 to 2010, he served as president and chief executive officer of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, the 50-50 joint venture of ConocoPhillips and Chevron. ConocoPhillips’ interest in the JV will be transferred to the downstream company after the separation.