Devon Energy

History

Devon was founded in 1971 by John Nichols (1914-2008) and his son, J. Larry Nichols. In 1988, the company became a public company via an initial public offering.

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.

In February 2016, Devon announced plans to lay off 1,000 employees, including 700 in Oklahoma City, and cut its quarterly dividend to $0.06 per share due to low prices of its products. In 2021, it instituted a fixed plus variable dividend structure that resulted in a record high dividend.

Acquisitions

Divestitures

CEOs

• Larry Nichols (1980-2010)
• John Richels (2010-2015)
• Dave Hager (2015-2021)
• Rick Muncrief (2021-2025)
• Clay Gaspar (2025-)

Political activity

Devon has contributed millions of dollars to politicians and political organizations, almost entirely to organizations and individuals affiliated with the Republican Party.

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 first presidency of Donald Trump due to rollbacks of environmental regulations.

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.

Environmental and legal issues

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, Texas and Nordheim, Texas until the well was capped. It took 35 hours to get the issue under control. The company paid $48,750 in fines for the incident.

In September 2021, the company agreed to pay $6.15 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act of 1863 by underpaying and underreporting royalties for natural gas from federal lands in Wyoming and New Mexico.

References

References

1. (February 19, 2025). "Devon Energy Corporation 2024 Form 10-K Annual Report". [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]].
2. "Fortune 500: Devon Energy". [[Fortune (magazine).
3. "Forbes Global 2000". [[Forbes]].
4. Miller, Stephen. (August 9, 2008). "Former Accountant Worked to Build Devon Energy Into Industry Giant". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
5. Pulsinelli, Olivia. (October 11, 2012). "Devon Energy to close Houston office, will affect 500 employees". [[American City Business Journals]].
6. Wilmoth, Adam. (February 16, 2016). "Devon Energy to lay off 700 in Oklahoma City". [[The Oklahoman]].
7. Baker, Max B.. (February 17, 2016). "Devon Energy cutting 1,000 jobs, slashing dividend". [[Fort Worth Star Telegram]].
8. (May 4, 2021). "Devon Energy Announces Fixed-Plus-Variable Dividend for". [[GlobeNewswire]].
9. (February 29, 1992). "Hondo Oil Offer". [[The New York Times]].
10. Vandewater, Bob. (January 1, 1997). "Devon Obtains Kerr-McGee Oil, Gas Properties". [[The Oklahoman]].
11. (July 6, 1998). "Devon Energy to acquire Canada's Northstar". [[Oil & Gas Journal]].
12. (August 17, 1999). "Devon Energy and PennzEnergy Announce Completion of Merger". [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]].
13. (August 29, 2000). "Devon Energy and Santa Fe Snyder Complete Merger". [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]].
14. (May 26, 2000). "Devon Energy to acquire Santa Fe Snyder in $3.35 billion deal". [[Oil & Gas Journal]].
15. (September 4, 2001). "Devon Energy to Acquire Anderson Exploration and Become North America's Largest Independent Producer of Oil and Natural Gas". [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]].
16. (August 14, 2001). "Devon to buy Mitchell Energy for $3.1 billion, boosting gas reserves". [[Oil & Gas Journal]].
17. Wilmoth, Adam. (April 26, 2003). "Devon completes $5.3 billion merger with Ocean Energy; More than 98 percent approve companies' deal". [[The Oklahoman]].
18. (May 8, 2006). "Devon acquiring Barnett shale acreage from Chief". [[Oil & Gas Journal]].
19. (February 28, 2014). "Devon Energy Completes Acquisition of Eagle Ford Assets from GeoSouthern Energy". [[Business Wire]].
20. (October 21, 2013). "Devon Energy and Crosstex Energy to Create New Midstream Business". [[Business Wire]].
21. (December 7, 2015). "Devon Energy Sharpens Focus on Core Assets". [[Business Wire]].
22. (January 7, 2021). "Devon Energy and WPX Energy Complete Merger of Equals Transaction". [[GlobeNewswire]].
23. (July 21, 2022). "Devon Closes $865 Million Cash Acquisition of RimRock Oil and Gas". [[Hart Energy]].
24. Casey, Simon. (August 9, 2022). "Devon Inks $1.8 Billion Shale Deal to Expand in Eagle Ford". [[Bloomberg News]].
25. (September 27, 2024). "Devon Energy Completes Strategic Acquisition in the Williston Basin". [[GlobeNewswire]].
26. (March 11, 2010). "BP pays Devon Energy $7bn for Brazilian, Azeri, and Gulf of Mexico assets". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
27. (April 2, 2014). "Devon Energy Completes Sale of Canadian Conventional Assets". [[Business Wire]].
28. (June 30, 2014). "LINN Energy Announces $2.3 Billion Acquisition of Assets from Devon Energy". [[GlobeNewswire]].
29. Pramanick, Anannya. (June 30, 2014). "Devon to sell oil and gas assets to Linn Energy for $2.3 bln". [[Reuters]].
30. Hiller, Jennifer. (July 31, 2017). "Penn Virginia buys Devon’s Eagle Ford Shale acreage". [[Houston Chronicle]].
31. (July 31, 2017). "Devon Energy Announces $340 Million of Non-Core Asset Sales". [[Business Wire]].
32. (June 27, 2019). "Devon Energy Completes Sale of Canadian Business". [[GlobeNewswire]].
33. (February 19, 2019). "Devon Energy Announces Final Step to Complete Transformation to U.S. Oil Growth Company". [[Business Wire]].
34. (October 2, 2020). "Devon Energy Completes Sale of Barnett Shale Assets". [[GlobeNewswire]].
35. (August 3, 2015). "Devon Energy Completes Leadership Transition as Board of Directors Elects Dave Hager New President and CEO, Succeeding Retiring John Richels". [[Business Wire]].
36. "Devon Energy: Total Contributions by Party of Recipient". [[OpenSecrets]].
37. (May 20, 2017). "How Rollbacks at Scott Pruitt's E.P.A. Are a Boon to Oil". [[The New York Times]].
38. Lipton, Eric. (December 6, 2014). "Energy Firms in Secretive Alliance With Attorneys General". [[The New York Times]].
39. Chapa, Sergio. (November 12, 2019). "Devon Energy one step away from capping blowout in DeWitt County". [[Houston Chronicle]].
40. (July 17, 2021). "State fines Devon Energy $97500 for well blowout in rural". [[The Victoria Advocate]].
41. (September 27, 2021). "Devon Energy Companies Agree to Pay $6.15 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations for Underpaying Royalties on Gas from Federal Lands". [[United States Department of Justice]].