Newfield Exploration Company was a

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 ...

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

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 ...

exploration and production company 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

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 February 2019, the company was acquired by

Encana Encana Corporation was a Canadian independent petroleum company that existed from 2002 to 2020. The company, stylised as EnCana until 2010, was created by David P. O'Brien of PanCanadian Petroleum and Gwyn Morgan of the Alberta Energy Company ...

. 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 South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

. 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 t ...

- 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 university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

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 () 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 ...

. 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 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 ...

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 C ...

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

Timor Sea The Timor Sea (, , or ) is a relatively shallow sea in the Indian Ocean bounded to the north by the island of Timor with Timor-Leste to the north, Indonesia to the northwest, Arafura Sea to the east, and to the south by Australia. The Sunda Tr ...

, offshore from northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. 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 great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

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

in a partnership with

CNOOC China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC Group (), is the third-largest national oil company in China, after CNPC (parent of PetroChina) and China Petrochemical Corporation (parent of Sinopec). The CNOOC Group focuses on the exploita ...

. 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, 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 ...

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 oil exploration, exploration and production of Petroleum, crude oil and natural gas. It was formed by the merger of Hess Oil and ...

, 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, it extends throughout much of the Appalac ...

, 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. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

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 Expand Energy Corporation, headquartered in Oklahoma City, is the largest independent natural gas producer in the U.S. based on net daily production. The company operates in the Appalachian Basin of the Marcellus Formation in Pennsylvania and ...

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 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 ...

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

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