All persons and entities other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired the publicly traded securities of Apache Corporation between September 7, 2016 and March 13, 2020, pursuant to Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Apache Corporation Publicly Traded Securities.

The complaint alleges that Apache Corporation and its senior executives misled investors about the potential and value of a newly discovered oil and gas field called Alpine High during the defined class period. The company announced Alpine High as a “transformational discovery” with immense oil and gas reserves, claiming the field contained about 3 billion barrels of oil and 75 trillion cubic feet of rich gas. Despite such strong public affirmations, internal data and expert evaluations suggested that the region was not viable, being too heavy on unprofitable dry gas and lacking in the valuable oil and “wet” gas necessary to render Alpine High profitable.

As the class period progressed, Apache continued to assert that additional testing and data confirmed the field’s vast potential and economic viability, despite mounting evidence to the contrary from their own geological assessments and employee warnings. They failed to disclose that their claims were unsupported by fundamental geological data, resulting in misleading investors about the project’s true prospects.

The truth began to unravel as the company was forced to cease operations, take a substantial write-down on the project, and dramatically cut its dividends, which led to a significant drop in its stock price. These actions followed the resignation of a key geologist who had been credited with the field’s discovery, further destabilizing the company’s standing in the market. This series of events caused the company’s stock to plummet, erasing billions in market value and significantly harming shareholders.

The complaint aims to hold Apache accountable for the alleged dissemination of materially false and misleading statements and the concealment of adverse facts about Alpine High’s viability and economic prospects. The class action seeks reparation for the losses incurred by the misled investors due to Apache’s purported fraudulent activities and misrepresentations during the class period.

Class action on behalf of all persons and entities other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired the publicly traded securities of Apache Corporation between September 7, 2016 and March 13, 2020, pursuant to Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.