OREANDA-NEWS. August 07, 2013. Apache Corporation (NYSE, Nasdaq: APA), announced second-quarter 2013 earnings of USD 1 billion or USD 2.54 per diluted common share and adjusted earnings, which exclude certain items that impact the comparability of results, of USD 801 million or USD 2.01 per share.

For the same period in the prior year, Apache reported earnings of USD 337 million or USD 0.86 per diluted common share and adjusted earnings of USD 821 million or USD 2.07 per share. Net cash provided by operating activities came to approximately USD 2.8 billion, with cash from operations before changes in operating assets and liabilities totaling USD 2.6 billion, up from USD 2.4 billion in the year-ago period.

"We have increased our drilling activities in Texas and Oklahoma to boost production and accelerate cash flow from our crude oil and liquids-rich assets. With our acquisitions in the Permian and Anadarko basins over the last three years, we added to an already formidable, legacy footprint in both of these areas. This gives us an outstanding platform to continue growth in these regions," said G. Steven Farris, chairman and chief executive officer at Apache. "We currently operate 45 rigs in our Permian Region, where second-quarter production was up 18 percent from a year ago, averaging 123,000 barrels of oil equivalent (Boe) per day. In our Central Region, we have ramped up to 35 rigs, and production was up 65 percent from a year ago, averaging 91,000 Boe per day."

Production and operating highlights
Highlights from the three-month period ending June 30, 2013, and more recent drilling include:

North American onshore liquids production increased to 175,000 barrels per day, up 42 percent compared with the same period a year ago.

In the Permian Basin, production from our Barnhart area has grown substantially, increasing 32 percent from first-quarter 2013 to 4,700 barrels of oil and 13.5 million cubic feet (MMcf) of gas per day. We are currently running six horizontal rigs in the play targeting Upper and Middle Wolfcamp zones.

In the Central Region, three Canyon Wash wells drilled last month are testing at a combined rate of more than 4,000 barrels of oil per day from vertical penetrations. The Bivins LIT 115-7 is testing naturally at approximately 885 barrels of oil and 885 thousand cubic feet (Mcf) of natural gas per day. The well is scheduled to be fracture-stimulated later this month. The Bivins LIT 3-3 and the Boys Ranch 116-5 are flowing back after fracture stimulation at 1,467 barrels of oil and 1.3 MMcf of gas and 1,950 barrels of oil and 1.6 MMcf of gas per day, respectively. Over the past two years Apache has built an approximate 100,000 net acreage position in the play.

In its international regions, Apache announced today seven new oil and gas discoveries in Egypt, located in four geologic basins and six different concessions. In late July, a third production well came online at the Bacchus development in the North Sea with flow rates of 9,400 barrels of oil per day. Gross production from the Bacchus field, where Apache has a 50 percent working interest, has reached 17,600 barrels of oil per day. A copy of the news releases reporting these results can be accessed at www.apachecorp.com.

Apache's second-quarter 2013 operations supplement includes drilling, production and other updates for each of its 10 regions. The full document can be accessed here www.apachecorp.com/financialdata.