Conoco Rewards Employees

HOUSTON -- Conoco Inc.'s 11,000 non-management employees worldwide will receive almost $52 million in special compensation awards for 2001 performance results.

As part of the profit sharing program, employees will receive payouts averaging 9.6 percent of their annual base salaries. This represents the second-highest payout in the seven-year history of the company's employee profit sharing program, called "Conoco Challenge."

Conoco Challenge links compensation to company and business unit performance and cash flow. Adjustments are made based on a three-year average of Conoco's total shareholder return versus industry peers.

"Conoco had another outstanding year, the second-best in our history, achieving record earnings in downstream and continuing several years of significant growth in oil production," said Archie Dunham, Conoco's chairman and CEO. "These successes are tremendous accomplishments for our business units worldwide, and a tribute to our employees and the major contributions they make toward Conoco's long-term success. They deserve to share in the company's profitability."

The first Conoco Challenge payouts were awarded in 1996 based on the company's 1995 performance. The program includes most employees through senior professional and supervisory levels. Conoco has around 19,000 full-time employees worldwide, with more than 11,000 of them participating in the program.

Conoco's approximately 1,500 senior managers participate in a separate variable compensation program based on similar financial performance targets, plus personal leadership components. The company's retail employees, have their own individual commission or bonus programs.