ConocoPhillips ( COP.N ) said on Wednesday it will boost oil and natural gas output for the rest of the decade but vowed it would do so only when it was financially prudent and that it would strictly adhere to shareholder returns. Logos of ConocoPhillips are seen in its booth at Gastech, the world’s biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan, April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai The largest U.S. independent oil and natural gas producer plans to spend an average of $5.5 billion annually for the next three years as long as oil prices CLc1 stay above $50 per barrel. “Our value proposition is not built around production growth. It is built around returns,” Chief Executive Ryan Lance said in an interview on the sidelines of the company’s investor day in New York. The spending forecast, an increase from 2017 and higher than […]