S&P: ConocoPhillips remains on watch

Standard & Poor's said ConocoPhillips' A corporate credit and senior unsecured debt rating, along with its A-1 short-term commercial-paper ratings, will remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed in July.

The CreditWatch listing follows news that ConocoPhillips' is pursuing a plan to separate into two stand-alone, publicly traded companies, S&P said.

The agency said it believes the transaction would reduce ConocoPhillips' degree of business diversity, particularly since the company has now clarified that its well-performing midstream and chemicals operations are to be included in the entity to be spun off.

ConocoPhillips also continues to pursue other means of directly rewarding shareholders, S&P said.

Management has given guidance that it now expects share repurchases to total $11 billion in 2011, the agency said, and that there will be further material share repurchases in 2012.

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