Apache Announces Preliminary Results of Merger Vote by Mariner Energy Stockholders (APA, ME)

Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) (Nasdaq: APA) today announced preliminary results of the merger consideration elections made by stockholders of Mariner Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ME) concerning the form of consideration they wish to receive in connection with the acquisition of Mariner by Apache. Apache expects to complete the acquisition upon approval of the transaction by Mariner's stockholders at a special meeting scheduled for Nov. 10, 2010. Based on available information as of the election deadline of 4 p.m. Central time on Nov. 8, 2010, the number of shares making elections before the deadline was 85,660,446, which represents 82.9 percent of the outstanding Mariner shares. The number of shares that did not make an election was 17,626,327 shares or 17.1 percent of the outstanding Mariner shares.Under the merger agreement, Mariner stockholders had the option to elect to receive consideration consisting of cash, shares of Apache common stock or a combination of both in exchange for their shares of Mariner common stock, subject to a proration feature. Mariner stockholders electing to receive a mix of cash and stock consideration and non-electing stockholders will receive $7.80 in cash and 0.17043 shares of Apache common stock in exchange for each share of Mariner common stock. Subject to proration, Mariner stockholders electing to receive all cash will receive $26.00 in cash per Mariner share and Mariner stockholders electing to receive only Apache common stock will receive 0.24347 shares of Apache common stock in exchange for each share of Mariner common stock.The final results of the merger consideration elections are expected to be announced on Nov. 12, 2010. Pursuant to the merger agreement between Apache and Mariner, fractional shares of Apache common stock will not be issued. Mariner stockholders will receive cash in lieu of their fractional share interests in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement.