USA: Apache Q3 Production Up

Apache Corporation said that higher rig counts and new infrastructure contributed to record production from Permian and Anadarko Basin operations.

For the three-month period ending Sept. 30, 2012, Apache reported production of 771,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up approximately 18,300 boepd, or 2.4 percent, from the same period in the prior year. Deferred production impacted third-quarter 2012 volumes by an estimated 25,000 boepd.

Apache’s third-quarter 2012 earnings totaled $161 million, or 41 cents per diluted common share, reflecting the impact of a $539 million non-cash, after-tax write-down in the carrying value of its properties in Canada resulting from lower natural gas prices. For the same period last year, Apache reported earnings of $983 million, or $2.50 per diluted share.

Apache’s adjusted earnings, which exclude the write-down and certain other items that impact the comparability of operating results, totaled $861 million, or $2.16 per diluted common share, in the third quarter as the impact of higher production was offset in part by lower prices for natural gas and natural gas liquids. In the prior-year period, Apache reported adjusted earnings of $1.16 billion, or $2.95 per share. Cash from operations before changes in operating assets and liabilities totaled $2.42 billion in the third quarter, down from $2.69 billion in the prior-year period.

“We are continuing to add drilling rigs and accelerate activity in the Permian and Anadarko basins. Today, we are running 56 rigs in these regions with plans to expand throughout next year. All are drilling oil and liquids-rich targets and more than half are drilling horizontal wells. Production in these two regions increased 30 percent from a year ago, accounting for nearly a quarter of Apache’s overall production compared with less than a fifth in third-quarter 2011. We expect this growth trajectory to continue well into the future,” said G. Steven Farris, chairman and chief executive officer.

Apache’s production from the Permian Basin and Central regions totaled 183,961 boepd for third quarter 2012, which includes a full three-month’s contribution from Cordillera assets acquired earlier in the year. For the same period in 2011, the two regions produced 141,020 boepd.

“Another contributor to our growth was securing additional takeaway capacity, which we’ve done with new infrastructure projects,” Farris said.

“Our joint-venture gas plant at the Deadwood Field in West Texas became fully operational during the third quarter, processing more than 50 million cubic feet per day. We also installed a nine-mile pipeline in our Bivins Ranch area in the Texas Panhandle. The line is currently transporting 3.3 MMcf of associated gas per day and will enable us to continue to develop the area well beyond its present rate of 5,000 barrels of oil per day. Both projects can be expanded with production growth. We continue to pursue marketing arrangements aggressively to move our production and enhance margins.

“We’re committed to growth through the drill bit across our portfolio, and Apache has nearly 100 rigs operating worldwide right now. With drilling activity and production on the rise, we look forward to concluding 2012 with our strongest quarter of the year,” he said.

The company’s balanced portfolio of North American and international assets, as well as oil and gas producing properties, helped to stabilize the effects of volatile prices in the commodity markets. Worldwide, Apache received an average of $102.62 per barrel of oil, a slight increase from $101.71 per barrel in the prior-year period. Apache benefitted from higher price realizations on Dated Brent crude produced in the company’s Australia, North Sea and Egypt regions, and on sweet crude from the Gulf of Mexico regions. Apache received premium prices to the WTI index on approximately 70 percent of crude oil production.

Apache’s international regions saw natural gas price realizations increase on average 13 percent from the prior-year period to $4.21 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf). North American natural gas price realizations fell 27 percent from the same period a year ago to $3.51 per Mcf. International gas production represented 36 percent of Apache’s total gas volumes.

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LNG World News Staff, November 01, 2012