Devon Energy
American energy company
Devon Energy Corporation is a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States. It is organized in Delaware with operational headquarters in the 50-story Devon Energy Center in Oklahoma City , Oklahoma . Its primary operations are in the Barnett Shale STACK formation in Oklahoma , Delaware Basin , Eagle Ford Group , and the Rocky Mountains .[ 1]
In 2023, the company was ranked 216th on the Fortune 500 [ 2] and 445th on the Forbes Global 2000 .[ 3]
As of December 31, 2023, the company had proved reserves of 1,817 million barrels of oil equivalent (1.112× 1010 GJ), of which 43% was petroleum , 28% was natural gas liquids , and 29% was natural gas .[ 1]
History
Devon was founded in 1971 by John Nichols (1914-2008) and his son, J. Larry Nichols .[ 4] In 1988, the company became a public company via an initial public offering .[ 4]
In October 2012, the company completed construction of its current headquarters, the 50-story Devon Energy Center in Oklahoma City , Oklahoma and closed its office in the Allen Center in Downtown Houston .[ 5]
In August 2015, Dave Hager was named president and chief executive officer of the company.[ 6]
In February 2016, Devon announced plans to lay off 1,000 employees, including 700 in Oklahoma City, and cut its dividend as part of a cost-cutting effort due to low prices of its products.[ 7] [ 8]
In November 2019, a blowout at a Devon natural gas well prompted authorities to seal off thousands of acres of land near the Eagle Ford Shale towns of Yorktown and Nordheim until the well was capped.[ 9]
Acquisitions
#
Year
Company
Price
Description of Assets
Ref(s).
1
February 1992
Hondo Oil and Gas
$122 million
Oil and gas reserves and seven natural gas processing plants
[ 10]
2
January 1996
Kerr-McGee
$250 million
North American onshore oil and gas properties; 370,000 net acres of undeveloped drilling rights
[ 11]
3
July 1998
Northstar Energy
$750 million
Oil and gas properties in Canada
[ 12]
4
August 1999
PennzEnergy
$2.2 billion
Oil and gas properties in the Gulf of Mexico
[ 13]
5
May 2000
Santa Fe Snyder
$3.35 billion
Oil and gas properties in the Permian Basin , Rocky Mountains, and the Gulf of Mexico
[ 14] [ 15]
6
September 2001
Anderson Exploration
$4.6 billion
Oil and gas properties in Canada
[ 16]
7
August 2002
Mitchell Energy
$3.1 billion
Oil and gas properties in the Barnett Shale of Texas
[ 17]
8
April 2003
Ocean Energy
$5.3 billion
Deepwater sites in the Gulf of Mexico
[ 18]
9
May 2006
Chief Oil and Gas
$2.2 billion
Barnett Shale leaseholds
[ 19]
10
February 2014
GeoSouthern Energy
$6.1 billion
Eagle Ford assets
[ 20]
11
October 2014
Crosstex Energy
Merger of midstream assets to form EnLink Midstream, LLC
[ 21]
12
December 2015
Felix Energy
$2.5 billion
Oil and gas properties in the Powder River Basin and Anadarko Basin
[ 22]
13
January 2021
WPX Energy
$2.56 billion
Oil and gas properties in the Williston Basin and the Permian Basin
[ 23]
14
July 2022
RimRock Oil and Gas
$865 million
Williston Basin assets
[ 24]
15
September 2022
Validus Energy
$1.8 billion
Eagle Ford assets
[ 25]
Divestitures
Political activity
Devon contributed over $1 million in each of the last 3 U.S. election cycles, almost entirely to organizations and individuals affiliated with the Republican Party .[ 34]
After agreeing with the Obama administration to install systems to control the illegal emission of hazardous chemicals, Devon backed out of such agreements during the Trump administration due to rollbacks of environmental regulations.[ 35]
Devon and its lobbyists have been noted to have close ties to government officials. In 2014, an investigation by The New York Times uncovered that a three-page letter signed by Scott Pruitt , then the Attorney General of Oklahoma , to the United States Environmental Protection Agency advocating for a relaxing of laws related to hydraulic fracturing was actually written by lobbyists for Devon Energy and not by Pruitt.[ 36]
References
^ a b c "Devon Energy Corporation 2023 Form 10-K Annual Report" . U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . February 28, 2024.
^ "Fortune 500: Devon Energy" . Fortune .
^ "Forbes Global 2000" . Forbes .
^ a b Miller, Stephen (August 9, 2008). "Former Accountant Worked to Build Devon Energy Into Industry Giant" . The Wall Street Journal .
^ Pulsinelli, Olivia (October 11, 2012). "Devon Energy to close Houston office, will affect 500 employees" . American City Business Journals .
^ "Devon Energy Completes Leadership Transition as Board of Directors Elects Dave Hager New President and CEO, Succeeding Retiring John Richels" (Press release). Business Wire . August 3, 2015.
^ Wilmoth, Adam (February 16, 2016). "Devon Energy to lay off 700 in Oklahoma City" . The Oklahoman .
^ Baker, Max B. (February 17, 2016). "Devon Energy cutting 1,000 jobs, slashing dividend" . Fort Worth Star Telegram .
^ Chapa, Sergio (November 12, 2019). "Devon Energy one step away from capping blowout in DeWitt County" . Houston Chronicle .
^ "Hondo Oil Offer" . The New York Times . Bloomberg News . February 29, 1992.
^ Vandewater, Bob (January 1, 1997). "Devon Obtains Kerr-McGee Oil, Gas Properties" . The Oklahoman .
^ "Devon Energy to acquire Canada's Northstar" . Oil & Gas Journal . July 6, 1998.
^ "Devon Energy and PennzEnergy Announce Completion of Merger" (Press release). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . August 17, 1999.
^ "Devon Energy and Santa Fe Snyder Complete Merger" (Press release). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . August 29, 2000.
^ "Devon Energy to acquire Santa Fe Snyder in $3.35 billion deal" . Oil & Gas Journal . May 26, 2000.
^ "Devon Energy to Acquire Anderson Exploration and Become North America's Largest Independent Producer of Oil and Natural Gas" (Press release). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . September 4, 2001.
^ "Devon to buy Mitchell Energy for $3.1 billion, boosting gas reserves" . Oil & Gas Journal . August 14, 2001.
^ Wilmoth, Adam (April 26, 2003). "Devon completes $5.3 billion merger with Ocean Energy; More than 98 percent approve companies' deal" . The Oklahoman .
^ "Devon acquiring Barnett shale acreage from Chief" . Oil & Gas Journal . May 8, 2006.
^ "Devon Energy Completes Acquisition of Eagle Ford Assets from GeoSouthern Energy" (Press release). Business Wire . February 28, 2014.
^ "Devon Energy and Crosstex Energy to Create New Midstream Business" (Press release). Business Wire . October 21, 2013.
^ "Devon Energy Sharpens Focus on Core Assets" (Press release). Business Wire . December 7, 2015.
^ "Devon Energy and WPX Energy Complete Merger of Equals Transaction" (Press release). GlobeNewswire . January 7, 2021.
^ "Devon Closes $865 Million Cash Acquisition of RimRock Oil and Gas" . Hart Energy . July 21, 2022.
^ Casey, Simon (August 9, 2022). "Devon Inks $1.8 Billion Shale Deal to Expand in Eagle Ford" . Bloomberg News .
^ "BP pays Devon Energy $7bn for Brazilian, Azeri, and Gulf of Mexico assets" . The Daily Telegraph . Reuters . March 11, 2010.
^ "Devon Energy Completes Sale of Canadian Conventional Assets" (Press release). Business Wire . April 2, 2014.
^ "LINN Energy Announces $2.3 Billion Acquisition of Assets from Devon Energy" (Press release). GlobeNewswire . June 30, 2014.
^ Pramanick, Anannya (June 30, 2014). "Devon to sell oil and gas assets to Linn Energy for $2.3 bln" . Reuters .
^ Hiller, Jennifer (July 31, 2017). "Penn Virginia buys Devon's Eagle Ford Shale acreage" . Houston Chronicle .
^ "Devon Energy Announces $340 Million of Non-Core Asset Sales" (Press release). Business Wire . July 31, 2017.
^ "Devon Energy Completes Sale of Canadian Business" (Press release). GlobeNewswire . June 27, 2019.
^ "Devon Energy Announces Final Step to Complete Transformation to U.S. Oil Growth Company" (Press release). Business Wire . February 19, 2019.
^ "Devon Energy: Total Contributions by Party of Recipient" . OpenSecrets .
^ Tabuchi, Hiroko; Lipton, Eric (May 20, 2017). "How Rollbacks at Scott Pruitt's E.P.A. Are a Boon to Oil" . The New York Times .
^ Lipton, Eric (December 6, 2014). "Energy Firms in Secretive Alliance With Attorneys General" . The New York Times .
External links