Apache Corporation

Current operations

In 2015, the company's total production was 195 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (1,190,000 GJ) per day, of which 47% was in the United States, 13% was in Canada, 27% was in Egypt, and 13% was in the North Sea.

As of December 31, 2015, the company had 1.564 billion barrels of oil equivalent (9.57×10⁹ GJ) of estimated proved reserves, of which 54% was in the United States, 18% was in Canada, 19% was in Egypt, and 9% was in the North Sea.

Almost all of the company's reserves in the United States are in the Permian Basin. The company also has reserves in western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, and south Texas.

Apache has been operating in Egypt since 1994. Despite the political turmoil in Egypt, the company's operations, which are in remote areas of the Western Desert, have not experienced production interruptions.

Apache has been operating in the North Sea since 2003, predominately in the Forties oilfield.

History

In 1954, the Apache Oil Corporation was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by Truman Anderson, Raymond Plank and Charles Arnao with $250,000 in funding.

In 1955, the first wells were drilled in the Cushing field, between Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

In 1960, Apache acquired interests in the Foshay Tower, a Minneapolis landmark. The 32-story imitation of the Washington Monument, became Apache's headquarters from the early 1960s until 1984.

In 1967, the oil well Fagerness #1 was drilled, yielding the company's first major discovery.

In 1969, Apache Corporation became a public company via an initial public offering and its shares were listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: APA).

In 1970, Apache diversified into agriculture with the acquisition of the S&J Ranch in California. The ranch produced citrus fruit, figs, pistachios, olives, and almonds.

In 1971, it formed Apache Exploration Company (subsequently "Apexco") as its oil and gas operating company.

In 1977, the company sold Apexco and its non-petroleum holdings, including the ranch, and reinvested into a farm-in agreement with GHK to operate its wells in the Anadarko Basin.

In 1980, the company acquired a non-operating interest, via a participation in a Royal Dutch Shell joint venture, in operations in the Gulf Of Mexico.

In 1981, the company created Apache Petroleum Company (APC), the first public master limited partnership in the United States.

In 1985, the company acquired oil and gas wells in 8 states from David Holdings for $200 million. In 1986, the company acquired oil and gas assets in the Gulf of Mexico from Occidental Petroleum.

In 1987, the company moved its headquarters from Minneapolis to Denver.

In 1991, the company doubled its reserves by acquiring assets from Amoco, including a position in the Permian Basin of West Texas, for $515 million and 2 million shares of Apache.

In 1992, Apache moved its headquarters to Houston, Texas and signed a lease for 220,000 square feet of office space.

In 1993, Apache acquired Hadson Energy Resources in a $58 million transaction, expanding its assets to offshore Western Australia.

In 1994, the company entered Egypt by acquiring a 25 percent non-operated interest in the Qarun Concession, operated by the Phoenix Resource Companies. Production began in December 1995.

In 1995, the company acquired Dekalb Energy Canada, marking Apache's return to Canada, in a $285 million stock transaction.

In 1995, Apache also acquired 315 oil and gas fields in the Permian Basin, the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast, western Oklahoma, East Texas, the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico from Texaco.

In 1996, Apache acquired Phoenix Resources and took over operations of the Qarun Concession in Egypt.

In 1999, the company acquired fields and leases in the Gulf of Mexico from Royal Dutch Shell for $715 million in cash, plus 1 million shares of stock.

In 2001, Apache acquired operations in the Western Desert of Egypt from Repsol YPF for $410 million.

In 2002, Apache Corporation drilled its first deepwater wells in the West Mediterranean Concession of offshore Egypt.

In February 2003, Apache appointed Floyd R. Price and Rodney J. Eichler as corporate Executive Vice Presidents and Jon A. Jeppesen as corporate Senior Vice President.

In 2003, Apache acquired the Forties oilfield, the largest field ever discovered in the United Kingdom North Sea as well as assets in the Gulf of Mexico from BP for $1.3 billion.

In 2005, Apache and ExxonMobil completed a series of agreements that provided for transfers and joint ventures across a broad range of properties in Western Canada.

Later in 2005, the company partially sold its stake in the deepwater section of Egypt's concession.

In 2006, Apache completed the sale of its oil production interest in China to Australia-based ROC Oil Company Limited for US$260 million.

In 2006, Apache bought many Gulf of Mexico Shelf properties from BP.

In 2007, A test horizontal well at the Van Gogh project, in Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, produced 9,694 barrels per day.

In 2010, Apache started production from the Van Gogh development offshore Western Australia.

In 2010, a Federal judge upheld Apache's decision to exclude from its annual meeting ballot a corporate governance proposal from a person who had not proven on a timely basis that he actually was one of the company's shareholders.

In 2010, Apache acquired Mariner Energy for $2.7 billion.

In 2010, Apache acquired assets in the Gulf of Mexico from Devon Energy for $1.05 billion.

In 2010, Apache purchased assets from BP in Texas, southeast New Mexico, western Canada, and Egypt for $7 billion.

In 2011, Apache announced the discovery of eight new oil wells in Egypt's Faghur Basin.

In 2012, Apache purchased assets in the Beryl field in the North Sea from ExxonMobil.

In 2012, Apache completed the acquisition of Cordillera Energy Partners in a deal worth $2.5 billion in cash and 6.3 million shares of common stock. The acquisition added approximately 71 million barrels of oil equivalent (430,000,000 GJ) to Apache's reserves and strengthened its position across western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle.

In November 2013, Apache completed the sale of a non-controlling 1/3 share of its Egyptian assets to Sinopec

In 2015, the company sold its assets in Western Australia for $2.1 billion.

2013 toxic waste spill

On June 1, 2013 an Apache pipeline in northern Alberta, Canada was noticed to have ruptured, spilling 60,000 barrels (9.5 million litres) of toxic waste in what was cited as one of the largest of such disasters in recent history in North America.

Pipeline explosion

In 2008, the natural gas pipeline explosion at Apache's Varanus Island processing hub on 3 June 2008 led to the 2008 Western Australian gas crisis. Apache restored 60% of Varanus Island gas deliveries on August 8, 2008. The Australian government was forced to drop charges as a result of a technicality.

Attempts to limit shareholder proposals

In 2007, Apache CEO G. Steven Farris wrote to the Securities and Exchange Commission in favor of limits on nonbinding shareholder proposals at public company annual meetings.

Board of Directors

Comprised as follows as of February 2017:
John E. Lowe, former executive vice president at ConocoPhillips (Chairman of the Board)
Annell Bay, former executive vice president for global exploration at Marathon Oil
John Christmann, former COO for North America at Apache
Chansoo Joung, former partner and senior advisor at Warburg Pincus
George D. Lawrence, former CEO and President of Phoenix Resources
William C. Montgomery, former Chief of Natural Resources, Americas and partner at Goldman Sachs
Amy H. Nelson, President and Founder of Greenridge Advisors
Rodman Patton, former Director of Merril Lynch Energy Group
Charles J. Pitman, former BP President of Egypt, Eurasia, and Caspian Sea
Daniel Rabun, former CEO, President, and Chairman of Ensco plc
Peter Ragauss, former CFO of Baker Hughes