08:01 AM EDT, 03/28/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with a response from Phillips 66 in the fifth paragraph.)

Phillips 66 (PSX) Chief Executive Mark Lashier said activist investor Elliott Investment Management has accepted management's plans to improve the company's financial performance, Reuters reported Tuesday.

"They've bought into our plans that we already had in place," Lashier told Reuters in an interview. "Elliott sees the progress."

Elliott said in November that it had a $1 billion stake in the oil refining company and that it was seeking the appointment of two new directors to help improve performance. Last month the company added veteran refining executive Robert Pease as a director and said it would seek another candidate.

Reuters cited an unnamed source close to Elliott as saying that it supports the company's performance improvement targets but that Phillips has a significant task ahead to achieve them.

A Phillips 66 spokesperson confirmed Lashier's quotes but declined to add further comment.

Elliott Investment Management did not immediately reply to MT Newswires' request for comment.

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