Apa Corporation
An oil and gas exploration and production company that hunts for and pumps crude oil and natural gas in the United States, Egypt, and the North Sea. Born in 1954 when four young men pooled their savings to drill in the Texas Panhandle, it grew from a small wildcat outfit into one of the world's largest independent producers. The founders reportedly picked the name "Apache" because they saw themselves as bold independents taking on the big oil companies, much like the Apache warriors of the American Southwest — and the company kept the moniker when it moved its headquarters to Houston.