Apache Shareholders Don't Approve Executive Compensation

Apache Corp. shareholders didn't approve the energy company's executive compensation plan for 2012 at its annual meeting Thursday, making their displeasure with the company's performance known.

Fewer than half of the voting shareholders, 49.8%, voted for the compensation plan for named executives. The vote Thursday is advisory and the board has no legal obligation to make changes to the 2012 pay package.

Apache spokesman John Roper said the company sees the vote as a comment on share performance. Apache shares are down 7.3% from a year ago. Shares fell 1.2% to $80.89 Thursday.

"We want to see our performance improve as well and to do so we need to hit 3% to 5% percent growth and execute our plan. We believe we have the right plan in place to do that," Mr. Roper said.

Apache has said it plans to sell $4 billion in assets this year to focus on North American onshore production, which it thinks will provide the best return, and to rid itself of land that hasn't been as profitable as it hoped. It will use the proceeds to pay down debt and buy back shares.

Chief Executive Steven Farris said during the meeting that he believes the company's share price has lagged because it has fallen short of production expectations and because of anxiety over its position in Egypt.

"We've got a great company, we do a great job, but in the last four or five quarters, we haven't done what we said we were going to do," he said. "We have missed estimates, and we cannot make commitments to shareholders we don't meet."

Praveen Kumar, executive director of UH Global Energy Management Institute at the University of Houston's C.T. Bauer College of Business, said the board doesn't have to do anything in response to Thursday's vote, but it might want to, as such a vote can indicate that shareholders are united in their dissatisfaction. Last year over 95% of shareholders voted to approve the company's executive compensation for 2011.

"It is probably a kid of firing across the bow, indicating to the board that there is shareholder resistance," Mr. Kumar said.

Also at Thursday's meeting, shareholders elected three directors to Apache's board.

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Brazil's HRT: Namibia Regulators Approve Stake Sale to Galp

RIO DE JANEIRO--Brazilian oil startup HRT Participacoes em Petroleo SA (HRTPY, HRTP3.BR) said late Thursday that Namibia's Mines and Energy Ministry approved the sale of a stake in three offshore blocks to Portugal's Galp Energia (GALP.LB).

In the deal, first announced in November, the two companies said that Galp had acquired a 14% stake in the three exploration blocks in return for covering a portion of drilling costs.

The deal helps clear the way for HRT to start drilling in the highly prospective region off Namibia's coast, which geologists believe could hold an area similar to Brazil's subsalt because the two areas were connected millions of years ago. Billions of barrels of crude oil were discovered under a thick layer of salt in the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil.

"We can confirm we will commence operations in [first-quarter 2013] for our exploratory campaign in Namibia," HRT Chief Executive Marcio Rocha Mello said in a statement. Earlier this month, HRT recently received the drilling rig that will be used to drill exploration wells in the offshore blocks.

Oil-industry consultants DeGolyer and MacNaughton pegged average prospective resources for HRT's offshore acreage in Namibia at 7.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Average prospective resources are a preliminary measure used by the industry to indicate oil volumes that could be recovered from undiscovered deposits.

HRT holds operating stakes in 10 blocks and minority shares in two others in the Walvis, Orange and Namibe basins.

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Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

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Brazil's HRT: Namibia Regulators Approve Stake Sale to Galp

RIO DE JANEIRO--Brazilian oil startup HRT Participacoes em Petroleo SA (HRTPY, HRTP3.BR) said late Thursday that Namibia's Mines and Energy Ministry approved the sale of a stake in three offshore blocks to Portugal's Galp Energia (GALP.LB).

In the deal, first announced in November, the two companies said that Galp had acquired a 14% stake in the three exploration blocks in return for covering a portion of drilling costs.

The deal helps clear the way for HRT to start drilling in the highly prospective region off Namibia's coast, which geologists believe could hold an area similar to Brazil's subsalt because the two areas were connected millions of years ago. Billions of barrels of crude oil were discovered under a thick layer of salt in the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil.

"We can confirm we will commence operations in [first-quarter 2013] for our exploratory campaign in Namibia," HRT Chief Executive Marcio Rocha Mello said in a statement. Earlier this month, HRT recently received the drilling rig that will be used to drill exploration wells in the offshore blocks.

Oil-industry consultants DeGolyer and MacNaughton pegged average prospective resources for HRT's offshore acreage in Namibia at 7.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Average prospective resources are a preliminary measure used by the industry to indicate oil volumes that could be recovered from undiscovered deposits.

HRT holds operating stakes in 10 blocks and minority shares in two others in the Walvis, Orange and Namibe basins.

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

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Mr. President, Approve This Pipeline

Fox News reports that EPA’s Region 6 administrator has apologized for comparing his agency’s enforcement strategy to Roman crucifixion. Of course, the 2010 remarks by EPA’s Al Armendariz, were captured on video, which you can see here.

Despite Armendariz’s apology, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, which is in the EPA region that Armendariz administers, is investigating. Inhofe said the crucifixion comments suggest a campaign of “threats” and “intimidation.”

Certainly, one poorly chosen analogy from a single regional administrator doesn’t indict an entire agency – though it’s concerning that this fellow, with his apparent zest for enforcement, has had oversight for the energy-rich Eagle Ford and Barnett shale areas of Texas. Talk about a chilling effect.

We hope that Armendariz’s a... more »

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar talked about a divide in America between the “real energy world and the imagined energy world” during a speech Tuesday in Washington. He’s got that right – but it’s not like the administration is on the right side of that divide. Consider:

It dismisses calls for increased access, saying it takes years to develop oil and natural gas resources, and then takes credit for increased production.It says it wants more oil and natural gas when in reality its policies set back production in the all-important Gulf of Mexico and on federal western lands.It says 75 percent of America’s offshore resources are open for development when in reality 87 percent of areas are off-limits.It says oil and natural gas are the energy of the past even though they... more »

Rounding up some of the latest rhetoric by Keystone XL pipeline opponents – separating fact from fiction (and utter fantasy) – while striving for an informed energy discussion. It’s not easy.

Let’s start with a great big fact:

The U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) reports that oil and natural gas supply 62 percent of the energy we currently use. In 2035, EIA says oil and gas still will supply about 60 percent of the energy we use.

That’s the energy reality, according to the government. We run our economy and our lives on oil and natural gas. It’s the energy of today and tomorrow. Yes, America will need all energy sources in the years to come, but any notion that we can embark on an “off-oil” strategy without severe economic and social repercussions is uninformed, disingenuou... more »

During a recent conference call with reporters API Chief Economist John Felmy said the country is at a “crossroads of energy and economic policy.” That’s quite a crossroads. Chad Moutray, chief economist at the National Association of Manufacturers, pointed out that manufacturing has added 462,000 net new jobs since 2010, and that continued growth hinges on energy and regulatory policy. So, where do we stand?

The administration’s energy policy is a muddle, as IPAA President and CEO Barry Russell argues in this Roll Call piece:

“Obama calls to expedite infrastructure projects, but in the wake of rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline. Obama claims increased oil and natural gas production on his watch, but then follows up with accusations that oil companies are profiting at the expense... more »

In response to a question about the Keystone XL pipeline back in January, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters: “[I]t is a fallacy to suggest that the president should sign into law something when there isn’t even an alternate route identified in Nebraska …” Carney also said the then-delay in reviewing the project was “a result of concerns in Nebraska about the route … and how it would affect the aquifer there.”

That was then. Now it appears the White House statements were really excuses, not concerns.

Indeed, last year the State Department’s exhaustive Keystone XL environmental review concluded that the project would be the safest pipeline ever built in the United States. The department also determined that the project’s proposed safety mechanisms and procedures wou... more »

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