MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US oil company buys into Neuquen basin

Apache Corporation announced this week an agreement that will expand its Argentina presence through the negotiated acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources' oil and gas operations in that country.

The total purchase price for the assets is 675 million US dollars, a significant portion of which is made up of non-operated properties that are subject to preferential rights to purchase by existing owners.

"This acquisition is Apache's first real step in expanding our operations in Argentina, giving us a platform from which to pursue further growth," said G. Steven Farris, Apache's president and chief executive officer.

"The majority of the operated properties are in the Neuquen Basin, where Apache presently is active on a small scale. We have found the rocks in the Neuquen Basin are friendly, and we believe that we can employ the know-how that we have successfully developed in growing our existing core areas to Argentina", added Mr. Farris.

Apache is a large oil and gas independent with core operations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom North Sea, Egypt, Australia and Argentina.

Apache first began operations in Argentina in 2001 with the acquisition of 647.000 hectares in Neuquen which currently produce 1.950 bpd.

Since 1954, Apache Corporation has grown to become one of the world's top independent oil and gas exploration and development companies with 15.5 billion US dollars in assets.

Apache's U.S. operations are focused in some of the country's most important producing basins, including the Outer Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico, the Anadarko Basin of Oklahoma, the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast and East Texas.

In Canada, Apache is active in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories.

The company also has exploration and production operations in Australia's offshore Carnarvon, Perth and Gippsland basins, Egypt's Western Desert, the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea, China and Argentina