APA Corporation is the holding company for Apache Corporation, an American company engaged in

hydrocarbon exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth's crust using petroleum geology. Exploration methods ...

. It is organized in Delaware and headquartered in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. The company is ranked 431st on the

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

History

In 1954, the Apache Oil Corporation was founded in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, 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 Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

and

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

. In 1960, the company acquired interests in the Foshay Tower, a Minneapolis landmark. The 32-story imitation of the

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continen ...

, 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 share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

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 investm ...

. In 1970, the company diversified into

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

with the acquisition of the S&J Ranch in California. The ranch produced

citrus fruit ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Mandarin orange, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, ...

, figs,

pistachio The pistachio (, ; ''Pistacia vera'') is a small to medium-sized tree of the Anacardiaceae, cashew family, originating in Iran. The tree produces nut (fruit)#Culinary definition and uses, seeds that are widely consumed as food. In 2022, world ...

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

s, and

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

s. It was sold in 1987 to Castle & Cooke. 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 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 t ...

. In 1980, the company acquired a non-operating interest, via a participation in a

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

, in operations in the

Gulf Of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. In 1981, the company created Apache Petroleum Company (APC), the first public

master limited partnership In the United States, a master limited partnership (MLP) or publicly traded partnership (PTP) is a publicly traded entity taxed as a partnership. It combines the tax benefits of a partnership with the liquidity of publicly traded securities. To o ...

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 () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

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

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. In 1991, the company doubled its reserves by acquiring assets from

Amoco Amoco ( ) is a brand of filling station, fuel stations operating in the United States and owned by British conglomerate BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and petroleum, oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company i ...

, including a position in the Permian Basin 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 List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

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

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

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 Permian Basin, the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast, western Oklahoma, East Texas, 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 great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

and the Gulf of Mexico from

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Independ ...

. 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

for $715 million in cash, plus 1 million shares of stock. In 2001, the company acquired operations in the

Libyan Desert The Libyan Desert (not to be confused with the Libyan Sahara) is a geographical region filling the northeastern Sahara Desert, from eastern Libya to the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert of Egypt and far northwestern Sudan. On medieval m ...

of Egypt from

Repsol Repsol S.A.
El Nuevo Herald, 2012-05-31Originally an init ...

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

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

as well as assets in the

from BP for $1.3 billion. In May 2005, the company and

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

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

. 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 Exmouth Gulf is a Bay, gulf in the North West Australia, north-west of Western Australia. It lies between North West Cape and the main coastline of Western Australia. It is considered to be part of the Pilbara Coast and Northwest Shelf, and t ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, 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

. 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 China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec Group, is a Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Chaoyang District, Beijing. The SASAC administers China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation for the benefit of State Council of the ...

In 2015, the company sold its assets in

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. In March 2021, the company reorganized its legal structure, with APA Corporation becoming the holding company for all of its subsidiaries. In January 2024, APA Corporation and Callon Petroleum Company have recently inked a definitive agreement, paving the way for APA to acquire Callon in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $4.5 billion, inclusive of Callon's net debt.

Operations

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

, and 12% was in the

. 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 company also has reserves in western

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, the Texas Panhandle, and south Texas. The company has been operating in remote areas of the

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.

Controversies

2013 toxic waste spill

On June 1, 2013, a pipeline in northern

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, 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 led to the 2008 Western Australian gas crisis. 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