Newfield Exploration Company was a

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

and

natural gas liquids Natural-gas condensate, also called natural gas liquids, is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids that are present as gaseous components in the raw natural gas produced from many natural gas fields. Some gas species within the raw natur ...

exploration and production company organized in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

and headquartered in Houston, Texas, USA. In February 2019, the company was acquired by

Encana Ovintiv Inc. is a hydrocarbon exploration and production company organized in Delaware and headquartered in Denver, United States. It was founded and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, under its previous name Encana. It was the largest energy c ...

. On December 31, 2017, the company had of estimated proved reserves, of which over 99% was in the United States and 1% was in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...

. The reserves were 37% petroleum, 19% natural gas liquids and 44% natural gas. The company's properties were as follows: *

Anadarko Basin The Anadarko Basin is a geologic depositional and structural basin centered in the western part of the state of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle, and extending into southwestern Kansas and southeastern Colorado. The basin covers an area of . By ...

- approximately 67% of proved reserves and production; 400,000 net acres in SCOOP and STACK plays; per day of production * Arkoma Basin - 12% of proved reserves; 147,000 net acres; per day of production *

Uinta Basin The Uinta Basin (also known as the Uintah Basin) is a physiographic section of the larger Colorado Plateaus province, which in turn is part of the larger Intermontane Plateaus physiographic division. It is also a geologic structural basin in ...

- 13% of proved reserves; 217,000 net acres; per day of production *

Williston Basin The Williston Basin is a large intracratonic sedimentary basin in eastern Montana, western North Dakota, South Dakota, southern Saskatchewan, and south-western Manitoba that is known for its rich deposits of petroleum and potash. The basin is a ...

- 10% of proved reserves; 82,000 net acres; per day of production * South China Sea - 1% of proved reserves; per day of production

History

The company was founded in 1988 by the former chairman of Tenneco Oil Company, Joe B. Foster. Through investments by Charles Duncan, Jr., the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

endowment funds and the founding employees, the company was capitalized with $9 million. In 1990, Newfield purchased its first production property, Eugene Island Block 172 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 ...

. Production of Eugene Island 172 increased from to over by the end of the year. In November 1993, Newfield 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 ( ...

via an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

of 3.125 million shares of

common stock Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other Comm ...

. In 1999, the company acquired Gulf Australia Resources Limited, which had assets in the

Timor Sea The Timor Sea ( id, Laut Timor, pt, Mar de Timor, tet, Tasi Mane or ) is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the Arafura Sea, and to the south by Australia. The sea contains a number of reefs ...

, offshore from northern Australia. In 2000, the company acquired assets in south Texas for $142 million. In 2001, it acquired Lariat Petroleum in a $333 million transaction, establishing a new focus area in the

of Oklahoma. In 2002, it acquired EEX Corporation and its asset base in South Texas in a $640 million transaction. In 2004, Newfield began operations in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

with the acquisition of Inland Resources. In 2005, Newfield explored the

in a partnership with

CNOOC China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC Group ( Chinese: 中国海洋石油总公司 Pinyin: ''Zhōngguó Háiyáng Shíyóu Zǒnggōngsī''), is one of the largest national oil companies in China, and the third-largest national oil ...

. In 2007, Newfield announced the $575 million acquisition of exploration and development areas in the Rocky Mountains from Stone Energy. In 2007, the company sold its assets in the

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

for $486.4 million. In 2009, along with

Hess Corporation Hess Corporation (formerly Amerada Hess Corporation) is an American global independent energy company involved in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. It was formed by the merger of Hess Oil and Chemical and Amerada Petrol ...

, the company leased land in Pennsylvania in the

Marcellus Formation The Marcellus Formation or the Marcellus Shale is a Middle Devonian age unit of sedimentary rock found in eastern North America. Named for a distinctive outcrop near the village of Marcellus, New York, in the United States, it extends throughou ...

, but the company pulled out of those leases in 2013. In 2012, the company sold its remaining assets in the

to W&T Offshore. In 2014, it sold its assets in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

to SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad for $896 million. In 2016, the company acquired 42,000 acres in the STACK formation of the Anadarko Basin from

Chesapeake Energy Chesapeake often refers to: *Chesapeake people, a Native American tribe also known as the Chesepian * The Chesapeake, a.k.a. Chesapeake Bay *Delmarva Peninsula, also known as the Chesapeake Peninsula Chesapeake may also refer to: Populated plac ...

for $470 million and sold its assets in Texas for $390 million. In February 2019, the company was acquired by Encana.

Controversies

Environmental record

In early 2012, Newfield discovered potential violations of the Clean Water Act relating to possible unpermitted discharges of fill materials into certain wetlands and drainages in the

. In 2015, the company resolved these issues with the Environmental Protection Agency and paid a fine of $175,000.

References

{{Reflist, 1 1988 establishments in Texas 2019 disestablishments in Texas Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Non-renewable resource companies established in 1988 Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 2019 1993 initial public offerings Defunct oil companies of the United States 2019 mergers and acquisitions American companies disestablished in 2019 American companies established in 1988