Anadarko Petroleum Corporation 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 ...

. It was organized in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

and headquartered in two skyscrapers in The Woodlands, Texas: the Allison Tower and the Hackett Tower, both named after former CEOs of the company. In 2019, the company was acquired by

Occidental Petroleum Occidental Petroleum Corporation (often abbreviated Oxy in reference to its ticker symbol and logo) is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States and the Middle East as well as petrochemical manufacturing in the ...

. The company was the subject of multiple environmental cases, including the largest environmental contamination settlement in American history - the 2014 settlement related to the former

Tronox Tronox Limited is an American worldwide chemical company involved in the titanium products industry with approximately 6,500 employees. Following its acquisition of the mineral sands business formerly belonging to South Africa's Exxaro Resources, ...

subsidiary of Kerr McGee, a company purchased by Anadarko in 2006. In addition to exploration and production, the company engaged in petroleum and natural gas gathering, processing, treating, and transportation. The company also participated in the hard minerals business through its ownership of non-operated joint ventures and royalty arrangements. As of December 31, 2018, the company had approximately of proved reserves, 45% of which was

oil reserves An oil is any chemical polarity, nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobe, hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilicity, lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable ...

, 37% of which 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 ...

, and 18% was natural gas liquids. In 2018, the company produced per day. The company's operations in the United States accounted for 86% of total sales volumes during 2018 and 88% of total proved reserves at year-end 2018. In the United States, the company had major holdings in the Delaware Basin, where it had over 580,000 gross acres, primarily in the Cline Shale; the Denver Basin, where it had more than 400,000 net acres; operating 4,600 vertical wells and 1,400 horizontal wells, and in Greater Natural Buttes,

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, where it had approximately 2,850 wells. The company's international operations accounted for 14% of total sales volumes during 2018 and 12% of total proved reserves at year-end 2018. The company had holdings in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, and Côte d’Ivoire. In the 2019

Forbes Global 2000 The ''Forbes'' Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world, published by: sales, profit, assets and market value. The list has been published annually since 2003. By country Forbes Global 2000 as of 2023: ...

, Anadarko Petroleum was ranked as the 587th -largest public company in the world.

History

Anadarko was formed in 1959 as a subsidiary of Panhandle Eastern Corporation Pipe Line Company after the discovery of large amounts of

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 ...

, which underlies the western part of the state of

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 ...

and the Texas Panhandle, and extending into southwestern

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and southeastern

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. In 1986, Panhandle Eastern Corporation distributed its interests in Anadarko to its shareholders via a

corporate spin-off A corporate spin-off, also known as a spin-out, starburst or hive-off, is a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" a section as a separate business or creates a second incarnation, even if the first is still active. It is distinct ...

, and Anadarko 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 ...

. In 1999, the company purchased a tract in The Woodlands, Texas from the Woodlands Land Company to build an , 32-story headquarters building, on the site. In 2012, the company began construction of another office tower adjacent to its headquarters. The company named its two office towers after former CEOs. The buildings were completed in 2014. In April 2000, the company acquired Union Pacific Resources in a $4.4 billion transaction. In June 2001, the company acquired Berkeley Petroleum Corporation for C$1.2 billion plus the assumption of C$400 million in debt. In December 2003, Robert J. Allison Jr. resigned as

chief executive officer 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 ...

and was replaced by James T. Hackett, previously the

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

Devon Energy Devon Energy Corporation is a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States. It is organized in Delaware with operational headquarters in the 50-story Devon Energy Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Its primary operations are ...

. In June 2006, the company acquired Western Gas Resources in a $5.3 billion cash transaction. In August 2006, the company acquired

Kerr-McGee The Kerr-McGee Corporation, founded in 1929, was an American energy company involved in oil exploration, production of crude oil, natural gas, perchlorate and uranium mining and milling in various countries. On June 23, 2006, Anadarko Petroleu ...

for $16 billion in cash. In January 2007, the company sold assets in West Texas for $1 billion. In February 2007, the company sold assets in Oklahoma and Texas for $860 million. In December 2008, the company sold its 50% interest in the Peregrino heavy oil field offshore Brazil to

Statoil Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. It is primarily a petroleum company operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renewable energy. In th ...

for $1.4 billion. In January 2012, the company sold midstream assets to Western Gas Partners for $483 million. In January 2012, the company announced the discovery of a significant

field, the Collier gas field, offshore

. In May 2012, a planned CEO succession of Al Walker occurred, with Jim Hackett becoming Executive Chairman until May 2013, when Hackett retired to pursue a master's degree in theology. Al Walker became Chairman as well as CEO in May 2013. In 2015, the company made an offer to acquire Apache Corporation, but the offer was rejected. In February 2016, the company sold its interest in the Springfield oil and gas gathering system near the Eagle Ford shale for $750 million to Western Gas Partners. In March 2016, the company announced layoffs affecting 1,000 employees or 17% of its staff. The layoffs were the result of weak commodity prices. In December 2016, the company acquired 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

Freeport-McMoRan Freeport-McMoRan Inc., often called Freeport, is an American mining company based in the Freeport-McMoRan Center, in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is the world's largest producer of molybdenum, a major copper producer and operates the world's la ...

. The company also announced the sale of 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 ...

. In January 2017, the company sold its assets in the Eagle Ford to Sanchez Energy and

The Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter G. Peterson, Peter Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, Stephen Schwarzman, who h ...

for $2.3 billion. In June 2019, the company and the co-venturers in

’s Offshore Area 1 proceeded to start the Area 1 Mozambique LNG project, Mozambique's first onshore LNG development, to support the development of the Golfinho gas field and Atum gas field. In August 2019, the company was acquired by

after Occidental outbid

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 ...

Environmental record

In December 2016, Anadarko was ranked as among the 14th best of 92 oil, gas, and mining companies on indigenous rights and resource extraction in the Arctic by the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.

''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill involvement

Anadarko owned a 25% non-operating minority interest in the

Macondo Prospect The Macondo Prospect (Mississippi Canyon Block 252, abbreviated MC252) is an oil and gas prospect in the United States Exclusive Economic Zone of the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. The prospect was the site of the ''Deepwater Horiz ...

, which was 65% owned and operated by BP, and was affected by the ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill in 2010. Under the joint operating agreement, Anadarko was required to pay costs related to any incident in proportion to its 25% ownership—except when caused by the operating partner's

gross negligence Gross negligence is the "lack of slight diligence or care" or "a conscious, voluntary act or omission in reckless disregard of a legal duty and of the consequences to another party." In some jurisdictions a person injured as a result of gross neg ...

or willful misconduct. Anadarko contended that

or willful misconduct by BP led to the explosion.

Settlement with BP

In early 2010, BP billed Anadarko more than $272million as a partial payment for its share of cleanup and response costs in the Gulf. In May 2011, MOEX Offshore, a subsidiary of

Mitsui is a Japanese corporate group and '' keiretsu'' that traces its roots to the ''zaibatsu'' groups that were dissolved after World War II. Unlike the ''zaibatsu'' of the pre-war period, there is no controlling company with regulatory power. Ins ...

and owner of a 10% non-operating ownership interest in the

, settled claims with BP for $1.07billion. In October 2011, Anadarko settled all claims with BP for $4 billion and its 25% stake in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 (

) to BP in return for indemnification by BP for all costs related to the oil spill, including those arising under the

Oil Pollution Act of 1990 The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) was passed by the 101st United States Congress and signed by President George H. W. Bush. It works to avoid oil spills from vessels and facilities by enforcing removal of spilled oil and assigning liability f ...

Fine under the Clean Water Act

In December 2015, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ordered Anadarko to pay a civil fine under the

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the primary respo ...

of $159.5 million, or $50 per barrel of oil spilled as a result of the ''Deepwater Horizon'' explosion. The judge stated Anadarko was not at fault for the spill, but the company's 25% ownership stake made it responsible. Barbier wrote that the $159.5 million fine "strikes the appropriate balance between Anadarko's lack of culpability and the extreme seriousness of this spill." The fine came after BP and Anadarko had unsuccessfully appealed to the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

to reject Judge Carl Barbier's finding of negligence in the ''Deepwater Horizon'' accident.

Tronox litigation and settlements

In April 2014, Anadarko settled with the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

and the

Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...

to pay $5.15 billion to clean up environmental waste sites around the country. It was the largest environmental contamination settlement in American history. The environmental contamination sites were inherited by Anadarko after it purchased

in 2005. As background, in 2006, Kerr-McGee spun off its

subsidiary to offload 70 years of

environmental dumping Environmental harmful product dumping (“environmental dumping”) is the practice of transfrontier shipment of waste (household waste, industrial/nuclear waste, etc.) from one country to another. The goal is to take the waste to a country that ...

of toxic waste across 22 states beginning in the 1920s. The environmental damages included polluting Lake Mead in Nevada with rocket fuel, leaving behind radioactive waste piles throughout the territory of the Navajo Nation and dumping carcinogenic creosote in communities throughout the East, Midwest and South at its wood-treating facilities. According to one report, "Kerr-McGee, rather than pay for the environmental mess it created, decided to shift the liabilities between 2002 and 2006 into Tronox. Kerr-McGee, meanwhile, kept its oil and gas assets with Anadarko acquiring the remainder of Kerr-McGee.

Lawsuit from Tronox shareholders

In 2009, shareholders of Tronox sued Anadarko, as successor to Kerr-McGee, for having misled investors about the large environmental and other liabilities Tronox would assume from Kerr-McGee.

Lawsuit from the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice

The

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

, on behalf of the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

, sued Anadarko for $25 billion. In April 2014, the parties reached a $5.15 billion settlement in what was at the time the largest environmental contamination settlement in American history. Since then the total amount for the complete and comprehensive cleanup of the BP DeepWater Horizon incident has passed $60 billion.

References

External links

Marcellus shale activity and violations as collected by FrackTrack
{{Authority control, state=expanded 1959 establishments in Texas 2019 disestablishments in Texas 1980s initial public offerings 2019 mergers and acquisitions Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Defunct oil companies of the United States Deepwater Horizon oil spill Non-renewable resource companies established in 1959 Companies based in The Woodlands, Texas Defunct companies based in Texas Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 2019 American companies established in 1959 American companies disestablished in 2019