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Apache Case Study

Decent Essays

Finance 685 Energy Trading
Dr. Zahid Iqbal

By: Dennis Blacknall
Cherrie Burns
Miechelle Davis
Jamahl Grace
Winston Reed

4/5/2013

Market Data | Friday, April 5, 6:34 PM Symbol | Price | Change | APA | 74.20 | -0.80 (-1.07%) | Brent | 104.33 | +0.21 (+0.20%) | WTI | 93.05 | +0.35 (+0.38%) | Natural Gas | 4.14 | +0.01 (+0.34%) | |

Case: Risk Management at Apache

Apache Corporation, an independent oil and gas exploration and production company founded in 1954 by Raymond Plank whose primary focus was to profit in oil. Their initial investor 's capital of $250,000 in 1954 rose to over a billion dollars in acquisitions by 2001. Acquisitions over a billion included Repsol in Egypt’s Western desert and a …show more content…

As an oil producer of this kind the operational risks are very high.
How is Apache managing risk now?
Apache’s primary tool in the risk management was the implementation of the limited hedging program. Initially the executive board wanted to know if the program should be extended beyond hedging the revenues from the acquisition. There are quite a few variations to the application and also belief system that can be observed and they are: Apache had begun the practice of hedging the expected production from its new acquisitions. Apache’s view was that the current environment offered the company the opportunity to negotiate the purchase of excellent properties, on potentially attractive prices. Through hedging, Apaches managers locked in these high gas prices. The hedges concentrated on the expected production over the next 2 to 3 years, while the markets showed liquidity to up to 5 years or even more sometimes. Apache’s risk managers had strongly believed that their hedging strategy aligns and is well grounded with the market’s view. Apache’s near term view was quoted as “bullish”. I.e. the prices would go up due to strong demand and shortage of supply. Apache used collar strategy and as per the CFO, it provided good protection against a potential downturn, but they left upside potential consistent with Apache’s view on the market. Apache believed that they were able to buy high-quality properties at low cash flow multiples. Also, that the hedging

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