Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: APC) is one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies, with 2.37 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) of proved reserves and a production of 190 million BOE in 2004.

Ranked No. 345 on the "Fortune 500" list that year, the company has assets worth $20 billion, and employs a worldwide workforce of about 3,400.

Anadarko, a subsidiary of Panhandle Eastern Corporation (1928-1993; it has since been acquired by Southern Union Company), was formed in 1959 after the discovery of large amounts of natural gas in the "Anadarko Basin" (the basin comprises the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, and southwest Kansas), thus the company's name. It now has activities in more than a dozen countries. The United States, Canada and Algeria represent the majority of the company's proved reserves and production; U.S. onshore accounts for about 60%.

Anadarko has been at the forefront of some of the industry's most significant technological advances in 3-D seismic imaging, drilling and completion technology, and reservoir management. As information is critical in this high-tech business, the company has been placing a lof of emphasis on state-of-the-art visualization technology. Together with Mechdyne Corporation, it has installed eight visualization laboratories in its headquarters complex at The Woodlands, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Dubbed the IDEA system, an acronym for "Image Delivery for Enhanced Awareness", the laboratories allow Anadarko to maximize its sophisticated modeling tools to better evaluate drilling prospects and investment options.

Anadarko is involved in both upstream and downstream activities. In aggregating gas from the well head to the market, Anadarko’s range of services includes gathering, compression, treating and dehydration, and processing. Its market services include field area supply, market area supply, transportation optimization, and storage management.

Apart from oil and gas, Anadarko has a 'Minerals business unit' that manages its non-oil-and-gas mineral resources. The company holds approximately 7.5 million acres (30,000 km²) of fee mineral rights, located in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. These lands contain significant resources of coal, trona, limestone, titanium, zeolite, oil shale, and diamonds.

On June 23, 2006, Anadarko announced that they would acquire Kerr-McGee Corporation and Western Gas Resources for a combined total of $23.3 billion.