EXHIBIT 99.2


CONTACTS:
- ---------

(MEDIA):      TONY LENTINI            (713) 296-6227
              BILL MINTZ              (713) 296-7276
(INVESTOR):   ROBERT DYE              (713) 296-6662
(WEB SITE):   WWW.APACHECORP.COM

                                         FOR RELEASE AT 10:58 A.M. CENTRAL TIME


                   APACHE BUYS GULF OF MEXICO SHELF PROPERTIES
                           FROM SHELL FOR $200 MILLION

         Houston, July 3, 2003 - Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) today announced
that it has completed the acquisition of producing properties on the Outer
Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico from Shell Exploration and Production
Company for $200 million, subject to normal post-closing adjustments, including
preferential rights.

         The acquisition includes 26 fields covering 50 blocks (approximately
209,000 acres) and interests in two onshore gas plants. Apache will operate 15
of the fields with 91 percent of the production.

         Apache will book proved reserves of 124.6 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of
natural gas and 6.6 million barrels of oil at a cost of approximately $1.22 per
thousand cubic feet of gas equivalent (Mcfe).

         Prior to the transaction, Morgan Stanley paid Shell $300 million to
acquire an overriding royalty interest in a portion of the lower-risk reserves
to be produced over the next four years.

         Apache acquired the remaining reserves at a low cost per Mcfe and
retains all of the potential upside from future exploration and development
activities.

         Apache's acquired production for the last six months of 2003 is
expected to average 70.4 million cubic feet of gas and 4,600 barrels of oil per
day.

         "We are pleased to have negotiated another mutually beneficial
transaction with Shell," said Apache Chief Executive Officer and President G.
Steven Farris. "These assets lay down well with our existing Gulf of Mexico
properties. We will not have to add additional staff and we expect to create
efficiencies in our field operations. The Gulf Coast enjoys the highest netback
natural gas pricing in North America. With the current shortage of natural gas,
we are hopeful of adding production to help bring on new supplies."


                                     -over-



APACHE GULF OF MEXICO ACQUISITION--1

         Farris said, "These assets have been capital-constrained for several
years. Just as with the Gulf of Mexico property package we purchased from Shell
in May 1999, we plan to invest money to maximize production and add new
reserves."

         In the May 1999 transaction, Apache paid Shell $716 million and has
invested another $550 million in exploitation activities. "By year-end 2002, we
had recouped 91 percent of our total investment and still had 74 percent of the
proved reserves that we booked at the time of the acquisition," Farris said.

         "Morgan Stanley's acquisition of the high-value, low-risk barrels
enables us to concentrate our capital and abilities on adding reserves and value
to mature fields, an Apache core competence," Farris said.

          Shell's sale of an overriding royalty interest to Morgan Stanley is
commonly known in the industry as a volumetric production payment. Under its
terms, Morgan Stanley is to receive a fixed volume of 68.4 Bcf equivalent
estimated to be produced over the next four years. These reserves will not be
booked by Apache. Overriding royalties are not burdened by production costs and
therefore Apache will record a $58 million liability for the future cost to
produce and deliver these volumes to Morgan Stanley. These costs will be
amortized as the volumes are produced.

         Apache Corporation is a large oil and gas independent with core
operations in the United States, Canada, the UK North Sea, Egypt and Australia.

                                      -end-

         For more information about this transaction, please go to Apache's Web
site, www.apachecorp.com. Apache will webcast its conference call to discuss
this transaction at 10 a.m. Central time on Monday, July 7, 2003. The conference
call also will be archived on the Apache Web site and will be available for
telephone replay for one week beginning at approximately 1 p.m. on Monday, July
7. To listen to the replay, please call (719) 457-0820 and provide passcode
number 344475.



         This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" as
defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including,
without limitation, expectations, beliefs, plans and objectives regarding
Apache's reserves, reserve life, production, exploration potential, and capital
expenditures. Any matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking and,
accordingly, involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties. There is no
assurance that Apache's expectations will be realized, and actual results may
differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.