Noble Energy, Inc. was a 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 ...

headquartered in

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 ...

. In October 2020, the company was acquired by

Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation predominantly specializing in oil and gas. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened t ...

. The company was known as Noble Affiliates, Inc. until 2002. As of December 31, 2018, the company had of proved reserves, of which 52% was in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, 43% was in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, and 5% was in

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

. Of the company's total proved reserves as of December 31, 2018, 62% was

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

, 14% was

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 natura ...

, and 24% was

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

. In the United States, the company's primary holdings were in the Wattenberg Gas Field /

Denver Basin The Denver Basin, variously referred to as the Julesburg Basin, Denver-Julesburg Basin (after Julesburg, Colorado), or the D-J Basin, is a geology, geologic structural basin centered in eastern Colorado in the United States, but extending into sou ...

in Colorado, the Delaware Basin, and the

Eagle Ford Group The Eagle Ford Group (also called the Eagle Ford Shale) is a Sedimentary rock, sedimentary rock formation deposited during the Cenomanian and Turonian ages of the Late Cretaceous over much of the modern-day state of Texas. The Eagle Ford is pr ...

. As of December 31, 2018, the company owned approximately 74,000 net developed acres and 111,000 net undeveloped acres between 10 and 90 miles offshore

in water depths ranging from 700 feet to 6,500 feet. Noble holds a 39.66% working interest in the Leviathan gas field, which it discovered in 2010 and a 25% working interest in the Tamar gas field. Through Dolphinus Holdings Limited, Noble sells any excess gas to

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 ...

after its natural gas obligations to Israel and Jordan have been met. The company owns a minority interest in and uses East Mediterranean Gas Company's

Arab Gas Pipeline The Arab Gas Pipeline is a natural gas pipeline in the Middle East. It originates near Arish in the Sinai Peninsula and was built to export Egyptian natural gas to Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, with branch underwater and overland pipelines to and ...

to transport the gas from Israel to Egypt. Exports to

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

are facilitated by an existing low-capacity pipeline near the Dead Sea and a large capacity pipeline under construction in northern Israel and northern Jordan. Adjacent to the Israel acreage, the company owns a license covering approximately 33,000 net undeveloped acres in the Aphrodite gas field of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. The company also owned interests in oil fields offshore

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, and

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

History

In 1932, Lloyd Noble founded the Samedan Oil Corporation, predecessor company to Noble Energy, Inc. The company was named after his children Sam, Ed, and Ann. In 1968, Samedan acquired its first offshore block 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 ...

. By the 1970s, Noble Affiliates Inc. was set up as a holding company to own Samedan Oil Corporation and a drilling company, Noble Drilling Corporation. In 1972, Noble Affiliates 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 ...

, listing on the then-new National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

). In 1980, Noble Affiliates was first listed on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

with the ticker symbol NBL. In 1985, Noble Affiliates spun off its subsidiary, Noble Drilling Corporation. In 1986, the company acquired Energy Development Corporation. In June 2000, the company announced that it will move its headquarters from

Ardmore, Oklahoma Ardmore is the county seat of Carter County, Oklahoma, Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 24,725 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 1.8% increase over the 2010 census figure of 24,283. The Ardmo ...

. In October 2000, Charles Davidson became president and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the company. By April 2002, the company had diversified into

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical compound and the simplest aliphatic Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with the chemical formula (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often ab ...

and

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

production, and changed its name to Noble Energy, Inc. In May 2005, the company acquired Patina Oil & Gas, giving the company acreage 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 great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. In May 2006, the company sold assets in the

for $625 million. In June 2006, the company announced a significant discovery in the Raton prospect of the

. In January 2010, the company acquired assets in the DJ Basin of the

from PetroCanada and

Suncor Energy Suncor Energy Inc. () is a Canada, Canadian integrated energy company based in Calgary, Alberta. It specializes in production of synthetic crude from oil sands. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Suncor Energy was ranked as the 48th-largest public ...

for $494 million. In May 2010, the company's Deep Blue exploration well on Green Canyon 723 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico reached a depth of 32,684 feet. In December 2010, the company announced the discovery of the Leviathan gas field, offshore

. In February 2011, the company received the first deepwater drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico issued by the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation ...

after the moratorium following the ''

Deepwater Horizon ''Deepwater Horizon'' was an ultra-deepwater, Dynamic positioning, dynamically positioned, Semi-submersible platform, semi-submersible offshore drilling Oil platform, rig owned by Transocean and operated by the BP company. On 20 April 2010, ...

'' incident. In 2012, the company moved its headquarters to a building formerly occupied by

Hewlett Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, Californi ...

in northwest Houston,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and signed a lease for 497,000 square feet of office space. In September 2012, the company sold assets in the Mid-Continent oil province for $594 million. In October 2014, the company announced plans to establish a center to train technicians in the energy industry at Ruppin Academic Center in Israel with a donation of NIS 12 million. In July 2015, the company acquired Rosetta Resources in a stock transaction. The acquisition gave the company acreage in the

. In September 2015, the company announced that the drilling of a well in the Cheetah exploration prospect offshore

yielded a dry hole. The company recorded a $33 million charge for this unsuccessful venture. In April 2017, the company acquired Clayton Williams Energy for $2.7 billion. In May 2017, the company sold Marcellus Midstream to Quantum Energy Partners for $765 million. The company also sold its assets in the

Marcellus Shale Marcellus may refer to: People * Marcellus (name) * Marcellus of Ancyra, fourth-century Christian bishop and theologian * Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Roman commander * Marcellus of Tangier * Marcellus Empiricus * Marcellus (nephew of Augustu ...

for $1.12 billion. In January 2018, the company sold part of its interest in the Tamar gas field for $800 million. In April 2018, the company sold its assets in the

. In December 2018, the company acquired assets in the

and the Bakken Formation. Effective December 30, 2019, the company moved its share listing from the

to the

Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

Global Select Market. In October 2020, the company was acquired by

Controversies

In 2015, the government of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

accused the company of operating illegally in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

. The government of Argentina does not recognize British control of the Falkland Islands. In 2015, the company settled a claim by the Environmental Protection Agency that its tank batteries were emitting noxious gases. The settlement included the payment of a $4.95 million civil penalty divided as follows: $3.475 million to the United States; and $1.475 million to Colorado.

References

External links

{{Portal, Texas, Energy, Companies 1932 establishments in Oklahoma Defunct oil companies of the United States American companies established in 1932 Carter County, Oklahoma Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Energy companies established in 1932 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1932 2020 mergers and acquisitions 1970s initial public offerings Chevron Corporation