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Phillips 66 Chairman and CEO Greg Garland spoke at the Bartlesville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s forum at the Adams Building Auditorium in downtown Bartlesville on Tuesday morning.

Garland said Bartlesville continues to be part of the backbone of Phillips 66. He said part of it has to do with the legacy and the heritage of Bartlesville. The other part has to do with the work that is done in the city.

Approximately 17 business units and staffs that have upper agents in Bartlesville. Garland said there are three big groups in Bartlesville: IT, Finance, and the Energy Research and Innovation Center. He said these group are vitally important to the everyday operation that makes Phillips 66 work.

No employees were furloughed by Phillips 66 during the coronavirus pandemic. Garland explained why this was important for the petroleum company. He said they wanted to stay committed to their employees even though they did not take in any money from the federal government.

Phillips 66 employs 14,500 people that live the company's value of safety, honor and commitment to provide energy and improve lives. Garland said the company's strategy has not changed much. He said that strategy involves growths, returns and distributions built upon a strong foundation of operating excellence in a high performing organization. He said nothing that he has seen over his past 40 years with the company has compared to the amazing response their employees have had during the coronavirus pandemic. Phillips 66 employees have been there every day, they have improved lives, they have provided energy, and they are essential to our well-being from Garland's perspective.

When looking at demand, Garland said that transportation fuel demand in Europe was off approximately 70-percent in March. In the United States, transportation fuel demand was down approximately 50-percent from late-March to April. Garland did note that gasoline has certainly recovered. He said as people continue to go back to work, they are more likely to get there in their own vehicle than take public transportation, which bodes well for transportation fuel demand.

Diesel demand held in during a bulk of the pandemic. Garland noted that that demand has flattened some as of late. He said the demand for diesel fuel is driven mostly by economic activity, planting farmers, and the upstream production in the U.S.

Jet fuel demand has been off the most. Garland said it has been off by about 60-percent. He said it may take three years for the airline industry to recover post-pandemic. This is because people may be a little reluctant to get back in airplanes right away. Garland said once people feel comfortable again and a vaccine is made, people may return in abundance to the airlines for travel.

Today, Phillips 66's refineries are running at approximately 80-percent. Garland said they have just under 70-percent utilization. He said they are doing what they can to match the capacity utilization of the refineries with the demand market they are seeing for their products. Until Phillips 66 can get demand recovered, they get capacity utilizations back in the 90-percent range, and they can work off some inventory that they have, Garland said they will continue to face headwinds when it comes to the margin environment which has been negative in 2020.

According to Garland, Phillips 66 is one of the only energy companies that is fully back to work, especially in Bartlesville and Houston. As the company faces COVID-19, Garland said they are prioritizing the protection of their people, ensuring the financial strength of the company, and support for the communities where Phillips 66 lives and works.

There have been a total of 272 positive COVID-19 cases out of the 14,500 people employed with Phillips 66. Garland said they have 32 active cases today. He said that is half of what it was a month ago.

Most of the cases have been community spread, meaning the employees have contracted the virus while in the community, not at work. Garland said he is proud of the company's employees for staying true to safety protocols and for wearing masks to put a rest to COVID-19. He said there are four employees in Bartlesville that are positive for COVID-19. A total of 18 employees have tested positive for the virus in Bartlesville since the beginning of the pandemic. Two employees were hospitalized, but no employees for Phillips 66 have died because of the novel coronavirus.

Garland said they are blessed at Phillips 66. He said the Pandemic Response Team for Phillips 66 that was mostly headquartered in Bartlesville were instrumental in protecting employees at the onset of the pandemic in March. This showed Garland that they were very forward thinking as usual when handling the issues surrounding the coronavirus.

$3.5-million has been poured into the nation's communities by Phillips 66 in response to COVID-19. Garland said most of the funds went to first responders and food banks. He added as it had been reported by KWON News before that Phillips 66 donated $300,000 to Bartlesville Regional United Way, adding that it is the most efficient way to give funds to people that might need help.

While many of Phillip 66's peers canceled their intern programs, Garland said they did not. He said they prioritized safety while giving their interns the best in-person learning experience that they could offer. He said being in-person truly adds to the value of the experience.