Update: No Occidental takeover bid for Apache

The article below was originally published under a title “Report: Major oil & gas merger in sight?”. The article has been amended after new information emerged revealing that Occidental is ‘unaware of any such offer’. 

Following a report early on Wednesday by a job site for the oil and gas industry, Oil and Gas People, that Houston-based oil and gas company Occidental Petroleum was set to reveal a takeover offer for its compatriot E&P company, Apache Corporation, Occidental has dismissed the rumors. 

Namely, Oil and Gas People had stated that Apache called a town hall meeting to announce the takeover offer by Occidental to its employees; however, the website later withdrew its report. According to the initial report, the deal was estimated to be worth over $25 billion.

Following the report by the Oil and Gas People, Offshore Energy Today reached out to Occidental and Apache seeking the companies’ comments on the supposed deal.

“Apache does not comment on M&A market rumors,” Apache’s spokesperson told Offshore Energy Today. Occidental was not immediately available for comment.

However, Occidental on Wednesday afternoon told Reuters that the company had no knowledge of “any pending transaction”.

Apache’s assets span across Canada, Egypt, United Stated and UK’s North Sea, while Occidental’s operations are spread across United States, Middle East and Latin America.

Occidental Petroleum previously held assets in the North Sea until 1991 when the company sold its North Sea fields in a $1.35 billion deal. The sale happened three years after the Piper Alpha platform explosion in 1988, regarded as the worst offshore oil disaster in the UK’s history.

Anadarko’s offer rejected

Back in 2015, Apache had another offer on the table made by the American exploration and production company Anadarko Petroleum that proposed an all-stock transaction ‘with a modest premium’.

Apache rejected the offer and, according to Anadarko’s Chairman, President and CEO Al Walker, Anadarko was unwilling to pursue the transaction without access to detailed non-public information thus withdrawing the offer.

Update: May 18, 2016; 11:20 CET 

When asked about the potential takeover of its compatriot Apache, the spokesperson for Occidental Petroleum said: “We have no knowledge of the information in the report.”

The article has been updated to include Occidental Petroleum’s comment. 

Offshore Energy Today Staff