Raymond Plank
Editor's note: This profile is part of Hart Energy's 50th anniversary Hall of Fame series honoring industry pioneers of the past 50 years and the Agents of Change (ACEs) who are leading the energy sector into the future.
The vision of Raymond Plank (1922-2018), the legendary oilman that co-founded Apache Oil, helped propel the company to the forefront of U.S. oil and gas exploration as well as globally.
“Raymond was a pioneer in the acquire-and-exploit strategy that ultimately transformed the U.S. E&P business,” recalled George Solich, who for more than a decade was Apache’s business-development chief.
“We moved from an industry that, at the time, was dominated by major oil companies to one driven by independents,” Solich told Hart Energy in 2018.
Plank was born in 1922 and raised in Minneapolis His oil and gas career spanned over 50 years before he retired in 2009. Plank left his mark on a wide range of industry and charitable groups.
Plank was at Yale when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. He enlisted and joined B-24 bomber pilots in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Pacific during World War II, flying 40 combat missions and earning a Bronze Star. After the war ended, Plank returned to Yale and graduated in 1946 with a bachelor of arts, majoring in international relations. He later returned to Minneapolis, where he formed a small bookkeeping, tax and accounting firm.
In 1954, he joined forces with two friends, Truman Anderson and Chuck Arnao, to form Apache. The trio flipped a coin to determine who would be president and Plank won. Apache started with six employees and $250,000 in funding. The company’s name reflected the founders’ initials—A, P, and A. “Che” was added to the end at the suggestion of Helen Johnson, an early employee who was awarded a $25 U.S. savings bond for the idea.
Apache’s first wells were drilled in the Cushing Field in Oklahoma. The first well only produced 7 bbl/d, while the second, the Bradley Rafferty No. 1, delivered 700 bbl/d. In Apache's first year in operation, the company generated revenue of $190,000 with net income of $12,535.
Under Plank’s lead, Apache offered its first oil and gas investment program in 1956 and was an industry leader in that area until it dropped annual drilling program sales in 1986. The company went public in 1969.
Apache grew through a series of acquisitions and drilling across the U.S. At one time, it was active in six countries, including in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale play. In the 1990s, Apache obtained mega-independent status and gained superior positions in Australia, Canada and Egypt.
In 2002, Plank passed the title of CEO to Steven Farris, who retained the titles of president and COO.
In Apache’s 50th anniversary publication in 2004, Plank wrote: “We remain firm in our belief that the dynamic forces which affect our business present opportunities for those with the proper strategies.”
Today, Apache, now called APA Corp., is headquartered in Houston. APA’s subsidiaries have operations in the U.S., Egypt’s Western Desert and the U.K.’s North Sea and exploration opportunities offshore Suriname. The company’s market cap is around $12 billion.
—Pietro D. Pitts, International Managing Editor
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