Apache Investors Secure Initial Approval of $65 Million Deal

Apache Corp. will pay $65 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit alleging the oil and gas company misled investors about a disappointing West Texas shale discovery, under a deal initially approved by a federal magistrate judge.

Investors in court filings said the settlement was an “excellent result,” ending more than three years of litigation. Magistrate Judge Andrew Edison in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas preliminarily approved the deal in an order filed Monday.

The lawsuit was filed in 2021, after Apache posted a roughly $3 billion writedown on the drilling project. The suit accused Apache, ...