Apache Corporation (APA): 1 Oil Company Betting Big on U.S. Shale

In the aftermath of the 2011 Egyptian revolution, which led to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak’s regime, Egypt remains highly unstable. The country is plagued by a dysfunctional government, an anemic economy, and a highly unequal society – factors that substantially raise the risk of social unrest that could threaten Apache’s operations.

While CEO Steve Farris has pointed to Egypt as a “a tremendous cash generator” for the company, the risks from a continued presence in the country may simply be too great to justify in my opinion. Perhaps Apache would be better off exiting Egypt altogether and using the asset sale proceeds to reduce its debt and buy back shares.

The article 1 Oil Company Betting Big on U.S. Shale originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Arjun Sreekumar.

Fool contributor Arjun Sreekumar has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apache.

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