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                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.1


NOBLE AFFILIATES, INC.
P. O. Box 1967
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402

For more information, contact:
William D. Dickson - (405) 223-4110

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

             NOBLE AFFILIATES, INC. ADOPTS STOCKHOLDER RIGHTS PLAN


       ARDMORE, Oklahoma, August 27, 1997 -- Noble Affiliates, Inc. announced
today that its board of directors has adopted a stockholder rights plan.  The
plan is designed to assure that the Company's stockholders receive fair and
equal treatment in the event of any proposed takeover of the Company and to
guard against partial tender offers and other abusive takeover tactics to gain
control of Noble Affiliates, Inc. without paying all stockholders a fair price.

       Robert Kelley, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Noble
Affiliates, stated: "We do not know of any plan to accumulate Noble Affiliates'
capital stock for the purpose of obtaining control of the Company, and the
rights plan was not adopted in response to any specific takeover proposal.  The
adoption of stockholder rights plans has become a common practice among United
States corporations.  It enables a board of directors to better represent the
stockholders in a manner that will permit them to realize the long-term value
of their investment in the Company.  The Noble Affiliates rights plan will not
and is not intended to prevent a takeover of the Company on terms that are fair
to, and are in the best interests of, all stockholders, but it should encourage
any person seeking to acquire the Company to negotiate with the Board prior to
attempting a takeover."

       Under the Noble Affiliates rights plan, the Company has declared a
dividend of one right ("Right") on each share of Common Stock of the Company.
Each Right will entitle the holder to purchase one one-hundredth of a share of
a new Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock, par




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value $1.00 per share, of the Company ("Preferred Shares") at an exercise price
of $150.00.  The Rights are not currently exercisable and will become
exercisable only if a person or group acquires beneficial ownership of 15
percent or more of Noble Affiliates' outstanding Common Stock or announces a
tender offer or exchange offer the consummation of which would result in
beneficial ownership by a person or group of 15 percent or more of the
outstanding Common Stock.  The Rights are subject to redemption by the Company
for $.01 per Right at any time prior to the tenth day after the first public
announcement of the acquisition by a person or group of beneficial ownership of
15 percent or more of the Company's Common Stock.  In addition, the Board of
Directors is authorized to amend the Rights plan at any time prior to such time
as the Rights become exercisable.

       If a person or group acquires beneficial ownership of 15 percent or more
of the Company's Common Stock, each Right will entitle its holder (other than
such person or members of such group) to purchase, at the Right's then current
exercise price, a number of Noble Affiliates' shares of Common Stock having a
market value of twice such price.  In addition, if Noble Affiliates is acquired
in a merger or other business combination transaction after a person has
acquired beneficial ownership of 15 percent or more of the Company's Common
Stock, each Right will entitle its holder to purchase, at the Right's then
current exercise price, a number of the acquiring company's shares of common
stock having a market value of twice such price.  Following the acquisition by
a person or group of beneficial ownership of 15 percent or more of the
Company's Common Stock and prior to an acquisition of beneficial ownership of
50 percent or more of the Company's Common Stock, the Board of Directors may
exchange the Rights (other than Rights owned by such person or group, which
will have become null and void and nontransferable), in whole or in part, at an
exchange ratio of one share of Common Stock (or one one-hundredth of a
Preferred Share) per Right.





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       The dividend distribution will be made on September 8, 1997, payable to
stockholders of record at the close of business on that date.  The Rights will
expire on September 8, 2007.

       Further information regarding the Rights is contained in a letter that
will be mailed to all holders of the Company's Common Stock.

       Noble Affiliates, Inc. is an independent energy company with exploration
and production operations throughout major basins in the United States,
including the Gulf of Mexico, as well as international operations primarily in
Argentina, China, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea and the U.K. Sector of the North
Sea.  Its common stock is listed on the NYSE under the symbols "NBL."





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