APA Corporation is the holding company for Apache Corporation, an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration. It is organized in Delaware and headquartered in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

. The company is ranked 431st on the Fortune 500.

Current operations

In 2021, the company's total production was per day, of which 59% was in the United States, 29% was in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

, and 12% was in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. As of December 31, 2021, the company had of estimated proved reserves, of which 68% was in the United States, 20% was in

, and 12% was in the

. Almost all of the company's reserves in the United States are in the

Permian Basin The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...

. The company also has reserves in western

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, the

Texas Panhandle The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...

, and south

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The company has been operating in remote areas of the Libyan Desert in Egypt since 1994 and has not experienced disruptions from political turmoil. The company has been operating in the

since 2003, predominantly in the Forties oilfield.

History

In 1954, the Apache Oil Corporation was founded in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, by Truman Anderson,

Raymond Plank Raymond Plank (May 29, 1922 – November 8, 2018) was the founder and chairman of Apache Corporation. He led Apache from a small oil and gas concern to a conglomerate with interests in energy, commercial real estate, agriculture, manufacturing an ...

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, the company acquired interests in the Foshay Tower, a Minneapolis landmark. The 32-story imitation of the Washington Monument, became the company'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, the company became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( l ...

via an initial public offering. In 1970, the company diversified into agriculture with the acquisition of the S&J Ranch in California. The ranch produced citrus fruit, figs,

pistachio The pistachio (, ''Pistacia vera''), a member of the cashew family, is a small tree originating from Central Asia and the Middle East. The tree produces seeds that are widely consumed as food. ''Pistacia vera'' is often confused with other sp ...

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

s, and almonds. It was sold in 1987. In 1971, the company 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 The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United S ...

. 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 eight states from David Holdings for $200 million. In 1986, the company acquired oil and gas assets in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United S ...

from Occidental Petroleum. In 1987, the company moved its headquarters from

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

. In 1991, the company doubled its reserves by acquiring assets from Amoco, including a position in the

of West Texas, for $515 million and 2 million shares of the company. In 1992, the company moved its headquarters to

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

and signed a lease for 220,000 square feet of office space. In 1993, the company acquired Hadson Energy Resources in a $58 million transaction, expanding its assets to offshore Western Australia. In 1994, the company began operations in

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 the company's return to Canada, in a $285 million stock transaction. In 1995, the company also acquired 315 oil and gas fields in the

, the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast, western Oklahoma, East Texas, the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico from Texaco. In 1996, the company 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, the company acquired operations in the Libyan Desert of Egypt from Repsol for $410 million. In 2002, the company drilled its first deepwater wells in the West Mediterranean Concession of offshore Egypt. In 2003, the company acquired the Forties oilfield, the largest field ever discovered in the United Kingdom

as well as assets in the

from BP for $1.3 billion. In May 2005, the company and ExxonMobil completed a series of agreements that provided for transfers and joint ventures across a broad range of properties in Western Canada. In October 2005, the company sold its 55% stake in the deepwater section of Egypt's concession for $413 million to Hess Corporation. In April 2006, the company acquired Gulf of Mexico Shelf properties from BP. In June 2006, the company sold its oil production interest in China to Australia-based Roc Oil Company for US$260 million. In 2007, A test horizontal well at the Van Gogh project, in Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, produced 9,694 barrels per day. In February 2010, the company started production from the Van Gogh development offshore Western Australia. In March 2010, a Federal judge upheld the company'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 June 2010, the company acquired assets in the Gulf of Mexico from Devon Energy for $1.05 billion. In July 2010, the company acquired assets from BP in Texas, southeast New Mexico, western Canada, and Egypt for $7 billion. In November 2010, the company acquired Mariner Energy for $2.7 billion. In 2011, the company discovered eight oil wells in

's Faghur Basin. In January 2012, the company acquired assets in the Beryl field in the North Sea from ExxonMobil. In May 2012, the company acquired Cordillera Energy Partners for $2.5 billion in cash and 6.3 million shares of common stock. The acquisition added approximately to Apache's reserves and strengthened its position across western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. In November 2013, the company sold 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. In 2016, the company sold its interest in the Scottish Area Gas Evacuation pipeline. In 2017, the company sold its assets in Canada to Paramount Resources for C$459.5 million. In 2020, the company declared its 'Alpine High' discovery to be a failure despite spending $3 billion on the play. Steven Keenan, VP of global exploration and Lead Geologist on the play resigned. In January 2021, the company redid its agreement with the

Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) ( ar, الهيئة المصرية العامة للبترول) is a national oil company of Egypt. EGPC's business includes crude oil exploration, refining, and storage. The company also produces l ...

. In March 2021, the company reorganized its legal structure, with APA Corporation becoming the holding company for all of its subsidiaries.

Controversies

2013 toxic waste spill

On June 1, 2013, a pipeline in northern

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, 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 June 2008, the natural gas pipeline explosion at the company's processing hub on

Varanus Island Varanus Island is the largest of the Lowendal Islands, an archipelago off the north west coast of Western Australia, near Karratha in the Pilbara region. The island is approximately from the mainland coast. It is located at .Gazetteer of Austra ...

led to the

2008 Western Australian gas crisis The Western Australian gas crisis was a major disruption to natural gas supply in Western Australia, caused by the rupture of a corroded pipeline and subsequent explosion at a processing plant on Varanus Island, off the state's north west coas ...

. The Australian government was forced to drop charges as a result of a technicality.

Attempts to limit shareholder proposals

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

References

External links

{{authority control 1960s initial public offerings American companies established in 1954 Companies based in Denver Companies based in Houston Companies listed on the Nasdaq Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Economy of Oklahoma Energy companies established in 1954 Natural gas companies of Canada Oil companies of Canada Oil companies of the United States