Apco’s Stunning Rise

Ever heard of Apco Oil and Gas International ($APAGF)? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

On its website, Apco describes itself as:

An international oil and gas exploration and production company with a focus on South America. Apco began exploration and production activities in Argentina in the late 1960s and has interests in eight oil and gas producing concessions and two exploration permits in Argentina, and three exploration and production contracts in Colombia.

Our producing operations are located in the Neuquén, Austral, and Northwest basins in Argentina. We also have exploration activitiesin both Argentina and Colombia. Our core assets are located in the Neuquén basin in the provinces of Rio Negro and Neuquén in southwest Argentina.

Our strategy is to develop and grow our assets in Argentina and Colombia, and conduct business development efforts with a goal of expanding the company into other South American countries.

Apco became a public company in 1978 and is a Cayman Islands company with headquarters located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a branch office in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a branch office in Bogota Colombia. Apco is 69 percent owned by The Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB: NYSE).

I can’t be positive, but I believe this is the single-best performing stock of the last 30 years. If not #1, then it’s in the Top 10. Most of the surge came in the late-1980s, but the stock is also up more than 10-fold from its 2009 low. The stock also pays a very modest dividend.

I honestly don’t know anything about this stock, but it’s another good example of a company that’s nearly invisible to most of Wall Street yet it has performed spectacularly well.

Posted by on June 9th, 2011 at 10:12 am


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