HOUSTON, April 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apache Corporation (NYSE,
Nasdaq: APA) today reported first-quarter earnings of $492 million or $1.47
per diluted common share as record production partially offset the impact
of lower oil and gas prices and higher costs. Apache earned $660 million or
$1.97 per share in the prior-year period.
Cash from operations before changes in operating assets and liabilities
totaled $1.2 billion, flat with the prior-year period. (This is a non-GAAP
measure; see reconciliation below.) Apache produced 536,297 barrels of oil
equivalent per day in the first quarter, 17 percent above the prior-year
period and up 1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006.
"Apache had a solid first quarter, with substantial earnings and cash
flow, increased production, and strong drilling results," said G. Steven
Farris, Apache's president and chief executive officer. "Production should
continue to grow, rising 6 to 10 percent over 2006 levels, excluding the
impact of acquisition and divestiture activity.
"In addition to rising production in 2007, Apache is off to a good
start drilling our arsenal of maturing exploration prospects in three core
growth areas -- Australia, Canada and Egypt," Farris said.
In Australia, the recently announced Julimar-1 discovery test-flowed 85
million cubic feet (MMcf) per day from two zones. "We plan to appraise the
discovery later in the year, drill the Brunello prospect -- a look-alike
east of Julimar -- and drill the Rosella gas prospect located southwest of
Apache's 1-trillion-cubic-foot John Brookes Field, which is currently
producing 250 MMcf of gas per day from three wells," Farris said.
The Sedco 703 semi-submersible rig, which drilled the Julimar-1, has
moved southwest to the Exmouth Basin and has commenced drilling on the
Crosby West prospect, the first of five Exmouth exploration wells planned
for 2007.
Apache's earlier discoveries in the Exmouth Basin -- Ravensworth,
Crosby, Stickle, Harrison and Van Gogh -- resulted in the Apache-operated
Van Gogh and BHP-operated Pyrenees developments. Van Gogh is expected to
come on line in 2009 and add 20,000 barrels per day of net production for
Apache; Pyrenees, which is scheduled to receive a formal go-ahead in the
near future, is on a similar schedule and also is expected to add 20,000
barrels of oil per day to Apache's net production.
In Egypt, Apache's Jade-1X discovered natural gas on the company's
Matruh Concession. The well tested 25.6 MMcf of gas per day from the
Jurassic Upper Safa formation. The discovery also has significant reserve
potential in multiple Cretaceous Alam El Bueib (AEB) reservoir objectives.
Apache plans five additional Jurassic and two AEB exploratory wells on the
Matruh Concession this year.
"In Canada, as a result of rebalancing our program to include more
higher- risk, higher-potential-reward prospects, first-quarter production
was generally flat despite substantial reductions in capital spending and
the number of wells drilled," Farris said. "Service costs are declining
across North America, and the trend is more pronounced in Canada. If costs
continue to decline, we may increase activity in shallow gas plays later in
the year."
At the end of the first quarter, Apache completed its $1 billion
acquisition in the Permian Basin from Anadarko Petroleum. Net daily
production from the fields is 9,000 barrels of oil and 19 MMcf of gas.
"Apache has developed several catalysts for growth," Farris said. "Stay
tuned -- we have a quality exploration program that is just beginning to
unfold."
NOTE: Apache will webcast its quarterly conference call to discuss its
results from its Web site, http://www.apachecorp.com, at 1 p.m. Central
Time on Thursday, April 26. The webcast replay and podcast will be archived
on Apache's Web site and will be available for delayed playback by
telephone one week beginning at approximately 5 p.m. on April 26. To access
the telephone playback, dial (719) 457-0820 and provide Apache's
confirmation code, 3843190.
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
production and exploration and acquisition activities. 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.
APACHE CORPORATION
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
(In thousands, except per share data)
For the Quarter
Ended March 31,
2007 2006
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Oil and gas production revenues $2,023,067 $1,950,298
Other (25,726) 48,804
1,997,341 1,999,102
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Depreciation, depletion and amortization 530,913 372,577
Asset retirement obligation accretion 24,064 20,645
Lease operating expenses 392,509 291,614
Gathering and transportation costs 28,025 26,104
Severance and other taxes 97,272 146,414
General and administrative 67,862 45,672
Total operating expenses 1,140,645 903,026
OPERATING INCOME 856,696 1,096,076
FINANCING COSTS:
Interest expense 65,732 42,863
Amortization of deferred loan costs 694 508
Capitalized interest (21,776) (14,193)
Interest income (2,587) (6,364)
Net financing costs 42,063 22,814
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES 814,633 1,073,262
Provision for income taxes 321,684 412,341
NET INCOME 492,949 660,921
Preferred stock dividends 1,420 1,420
INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO COMMON STOCK $491,529 $659,501
BASIC NET INCOME PER COMMON SHARE $1.48 $2.00
DILUTED NET INCOME PER COMMON SHARE $1.47 $1.97
WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING 331,213 330,416
APACHE CORPORATION
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
(In thousands)
For the Quarter
Ended March 31,
2007 2006
COSTS INCURRED: (1)
North America exploration and development $740,775 $712,886
International exploration and development 426,369 224,315
$1,167,144 $937,201
Oil and gas property acquisitions $1,026,896 $262,646
(1) Includes noncash asset
retirement costs and capitalized
interest as follows:
Capitalized interest $21,776 $14,193
Asset retirement costs $74,821 $11,107
March 31, December 31,
2007 2006
BALANCE SHEET DATA:
Current Assets $2,371,771 $2,490,271
Property and Equipment, net 23,106,507 21,346,252
Goodwill 189,252 189,252
Other Assets 386,277 282,400
Total Assets $26,053,807 $24,308,175
Current Liabilities $3,592,277 $3,811,612
Long-Term Debt 3,512,180 2,019,831
Deferred Credits and Other
Noncurrent Liabilities 5,501,495 5,285,679
Shareholders' Equity 13,447,855 13,191,053
Total Liabilities and
Shareholders' Equity $26,053,807 $24,308,175
Common shares outstanding
at end of period 331,160 330,737
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES:
The press release discusses Apache's cash from operations before
changes in operating assets and liabilities. It is presented because
management believes the information is useful for investors because it is
used internally and widely accepted by those following the oil and gas
industry as a financial indicator of a company's ability to generate cash
to internally fund exploration and development activities, fund dividend
programs, and service debt. It is also used by research analysts to value
and compare oil and gas exploration and production companies, and is
frequently included in published research when providing investment
recommendations. Cash from operations before changes in operating assets
and liabilities, therefore, is an additional measure of liquidity, but is
not a measure of financial performance under GAAP and should not be
considered as an alternative to cash flows from operating, investing, or
financing activities.
The following table reconciles net cash provided by operating
activities to cash from operations before changes in operating assets and
liabilities.
For the Quarter
Ended March 31,
2007 2006
Net cash provided by operating activities $1,063,559 $1,043,284
Changes in operating assets and liabilities 128,901 180,916
Cash from operations before changes in
operating assets and liabilities $1,192,460 $1,224,200
APACHE CORPORATION
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
For the Quarter
Ended March 31,
2007 2006
FINANCIAL DATA (In thousands, except
per share data):
Revenues and other $1,997,341 $1,999,102
Income Attributable to Common Stock $491,529 $659,501
Basic Net Income Per Common Share $1.48 $2.00
Diluted Net Income Per Common Share $1.47 $1.97
Weighted Average Common Shares Outstanding 331,213 330,416
Diluted Shares Outstanding 333,302 334,469
PRODUCTION AND PRICING DATA:
OIL VOLUME - Barrels per day
United States 74,652 59,290
Canada 19,032 21,691
Egypt 60,371 57,292
Australia 12,141 11,911
North Sea 53,671 64,445
Argentina 10,797 1,272
China --- 4,559
Total 230,664 220,460
AVERAGE OIL PRICE PER BARREL
United States $55.89 $50.22
Canada 53.62 54.17
Egypt 56.64 60.89
Australia 66.96 66.39
North Sea 56.35 60.66
Argentina 40.61 39.30
China --- 58.12
Total 55.87 57.41
NATURAL GAS VOLUME - Mcf per day
United States 739,828 601,045
Canada 383,020 385,982
Egypt 243,485 212,874
Australia 194,961 153,659
North Sea 1,889 2,269
Argentina 198,239 3,143
Total 1,761,422 1,358,972
AVERAGE NATURAL GAS PRICE PER MCF
United States $6.96 $7.41
Canada 6.44 7.73
Egypt 4.06 4.41
Australia 1.77 1.67
North Sea 8.30 9.98
Argentina 1.14 1.19
Total 5.22 6.37
NGL VOLUME - Barrels per day
United States 7,195 7,553
Canada 2,232 2,178
Argentina 2,635 ---
Total 12,062 9,731
AVERAGE NGL PRICE PER BARREL
United States $35.02 $36.52
Canada 31.47 36.10
Argentina 31.10 ---
Total 33.51 36.43
SOURCE Apache Corporation
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.apachecorp.com
CONTACT:
Media, Tony Lentini, +1-713/296-6227, or Bill
Mintz, +1-713-296-7276, or Investors, Robert Dye,
+1-713-296-6662, or David Higgins, 713-296-6690, all for Apache
Corporation
|
