Apache's First-Quarter Net Income Doubles to $1.02 Billion

Apache's First-Quarter Net Income Doubles to $1.02 Billion

HOUSTON, May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apache Corporation NYSE: APA NASDAQ: APA today reported first-quarter net income of $1.02 billion, or $3.03 per diluted common share, the company's second consecutive quarter with earnings over $1 billion and a 108-percent increase from earnings of $492 million or $1.47 per share in the prior-year period. Excluding the non-cash impact of foreign currency fluctuations on deferred tax balances, Apache's first-quarter adjusted earnings* were a record $2.99 per share, up from $1.48 per share in the prior-year period.

First-quarter production increased 4 percent from the year-earlier period to 557,631 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day, driven by higher oil output in the United States, the North Sea and Egypt.

Cash from operations before changes in operating assets and liabilities* totaled $1.8 billion, compared with $1.2 billion in the prior-year period.

"Apache delivered strong financial results for the first quarter and -- just as important -- significant exploration results in each of our 'ACE' core growth areas of Australia, Canada and Egypt," said G. Steven Farris, Apache's president and chief executive officer. "These successes -- and the substantial inventory of wells we plan to drill in each area during 2008 -- will fuel the long-term reserve and production growth of the company.

"We expect production to accelerate into the second half of 2008 with increased activity in the United States, Argentina and Canada along with first production through the Salam gas plant expansion project in Egypt," Farris said.

Apache's discoveries included the Brulimar-1, Julimar Southeast-1 and the Halyard-1 in Australia; the Hydra-1X in Egypt, and three wells in the Muskwa Shale in the Ootla area of British Columbia.

The three horizontal wells in the Ootla area test-flowed at rates of 8.8 million cubic feet (MMcf), 6.1 MMcf and 5.3 MMcf of gas per day; the wells are on production and flowing through Apache's Missile gas plant. Apache and its partner EnCana have amassed 417,000 gross acres -- the largest acreage position in the emerging play.

In Egypt, Apache received approval to build a third gas-processing train with capacity of 100 MMcf per day. "We now project that our inventory of development projects will add 135,000 boe per day net to Apache's interests by the end of 2012," Farris said.

* Adjusted earnings and cash from operations before changes in operating assets and liabilities are non-GAAP measures. Please see reconciliations below.

NOTE: Apache will conduct a conference call to discuss its first-quarter results at 1 p.m. Central time on May 1, 2008. The call will be webcast from Apache's Web site, http://www.apachecorp.com. The webcast replay and podcast will be archived on Apache's Web site. The conference call will be available for delayed playback by telephone for one week beginning at approximately 3 p.m. on May 1. To access the telephone playback, dial (719) 457-0820 and provide Apache's confirmation code, 8602447.

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, without limitation, expectations, beliefs, plans and objectives regarding production and exploration activities. Any matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking and, accordingly, involve estimates, assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed in our 2007 Form 10-K and on our Web site. 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. We assume no duty to update these statements as of any future date.



                              APACHE CORPORATION
                            FINANCIAL INFORMATION
                    (In thousands, except per share data)

                                                          For the Quarter
                                                           Ended March 31,
                                                         2008          2007
    REVENUES AND OTHER:
      Oil and gas production revenues                $3,177,949    $2,023,067
      Other                                               9,792       (20,192)
                                                      3,187,741     2,002,875

    COSTS AND EXPENSES:
      Depreciation, depletion and amortization          620,489       530,913
      Asset retirement obligation accretion              26,497        24,064
      Lease operating expenses                          454,638       382,107
      Gathering and transportation                       40,976        31,263
      Taxes other than income                           242,578       109,970
      General and administrative                         82,423        67,862
      Financing costs, net                               44,253        42,063
                                                      1,511,854     1,188,242

    INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES                        1,675,887       814,633
      Current income tax provision                      487,800       186,522
      Deferred income tax provision                     166,574       135,162

    NET INCOME                                        1,021,513       492,949
      Preferred stock dividends                           1,420         1,420

    INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO COMMON STOCK              $1,020,093      $491,529

    NET INCOME PER COMMON SHARE:
      Basic                                               $3.06         $1.48
      Diluted                                             $3.03         $1.47

    WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING          333,393       331,213



                              APACHE CORPORATION
                            FINANCIAL INFORMATION
                                (In thousands)

                                                          For the Quarter
                                                           Ended March 31,
                                                         2008          2007
    COSTS INCURRED: (1)
      North America exploration and development        $743,356      $740,775
      International exploration and development         608,463       426,369
                                                     $1,351,819    $1,167,144

      Oil and gas property acquisitions                  $7,947    $1,026,896

      (1) Includes noncash asset retirement costs
          and capitalized interest as follows:
             Capitalized interest                       $17,178       $21,776
             Asset retirement costs                     $85,072       $74,821


                                                      March 31,   December 31,
                                                         2008          2007
    BALANCE SHEET DATA:
      Cash and Cash Equivalents                        $383,040      $125,823
      Other Current Assets                            2,670,063     2,626,428
      Property and Equipment, net                    25,865,386    25,231,593
      Restricted Cash                                   228,134             -
      Goodwill                                          189,252       189,252
      Other Assets                                      480,200       461,555
      Total Assets                                  $29,816,075   $28,634,651

      Current Liabilities                            $3,000,482    $2,665,016
      Long-Term Debt                                  3,911,924     4,011,605
      Deferred Credits and Other
      Noncurrent Liabilities                          6,823,662     6,580,051
      Shareholders' Equity                           16,080,007    15,377,979
      Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity    $29,816,075   $28,634,651

      Common shares outstanding at end of period        333,589       332,927



                                APACHE CORPORATION
                              FINANCIAL INFORMATION

                                                         For the Quarter
                                                          Ended March 31,
                                                        2008          2007
    FINANCIAL DATA (In thousands, except per
     share data):
        Revenues and other                           $3,187,741    $2,002,875
        Income Attributable to Common Stock          $1,020,093      $491,529
        Basic Net Income Per Common Share                 $3.06         $1.48
        Diluted Net Income Per Common Share               $3.03         $1.47
        Weighted Average Common Shares Outstanding      333,393       331,213
        Diluted Shares Outstanding                      336,549       333,302

    PRODUCTION AND PRICING DATA:
      OIL VOLUME - Barrels per day
        United States                                   100,679        74,652
        Canada                                           17,347        19,032
        Egypt                                            62,551        60,371
        Australia                                         9,420        12,141
        North Sea                                        58,771        53,671
        Argentina                                        12,225        10,797
            Total                                       260,993       230,664

    AVERAGE OIL PRICE PER BARREL
        United States                                    $83.58        $55.89
        Canada                                            93.21         53.62
        Egypt                                             97.85         56.64
        Australia                                        101.67         66.96
        North Sea                                         95.83         56.35
        Argentina                                         45.13         40.61
            Total                                         89.25         55.87

    NATURAL GAS VOLUME - Mcf per day
        United States                                   744,014       739,828
        Canada                                          360,750       383,020
        Egypt                                           242,977       243,485
        Australia                                       191,180       194,961
        North Sea                                         2,605         1,889
        Argentina                                       165,133       198,239
            Total                                     1,706,659     1,761,422

    AVERAGE NATURAL GAS PRICE PER MCF
        United States                                     $8.36         $6.96
        Canada                                             7.56          6.44
        Egypt                                              5.20          4.06
        Australia                                          2.12          1.77
        North Sea                                         16.31          8.30
        Argentina                                          1.84          1.14
            Total                                          6.42          5.22

    NGL VOLUME - Barrels per day
        United States                                     7,240         7,195
        Canada                                            2,235         2,232
        Argentina                                         2,720         2,635
            Total                                        12,195        12,062

    AVERAGE NGL PRICE PER BARREL
        United States                                    $57.37        $35.02
        Canada                                            53.35         31.47
        Argentina                                         48.18         31.10
            Total                                         54.58         33.51



                              APACHE CORPORATION
                            FINANCIAL INFORMATION
                    (In thousands, except per share data)

    NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES:

Reconciliation of income attributable to common stock to adjusted earnings:

The press release discusses Apache's adjusted earnings. Adjusted earnings excludes certain items that management believes affect the comparability of operating results. The following provides the reasons adjusted earnings is a meaningful measure:

    -- Management uses adjusted earnings to evaluate the company's operational
       trends and performance relative to other oil and gas producing
       companies.
    -- Management believes this presentation may be useful to investors who
       follow the practice of some industry analysts who adjust reported
       company earnings for items that may obscure underlying fundamentals and
       trends.
    -- The reconciling items below are the types of items management believes
       are frequently excluded by analysts when evaluating the operating
       trends and comparability of the company's results.

                                                        For the Quarter
                                                         Ended March 31,
                                                        2008         2007

    Income Attributable to Common Stock (GAAP)       $1,020,093     $491,529

    Adjustments:
        Foreign currency fluctuation impact on
         deferred tax expense                           (12,360)       2,396

    Adjusted Earnings (Non-GAAP)                     $1,007,733     $493,925

    Adjusted Earnings Per Share (Non-GAAP)
      Basic                                               $3.02        $1.49
      Diluted                                             $2.99        $1.48

    Average Number of Common Shares
      Basic                                             333,393      331,213
      Diluted                                           336,549      333,302


Reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to cash from operations before changes in operating assets and liabilities:

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,
                                                        2008         2007
    Net cash provided by operating activities        $1,808,404   $1,063,559
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities          36,280      128,901
    Cash from operations before changes in
     operating assets and liabilities                 $1,844,684  $1,192,460

APA-F

Website: http://www.apachecorp.com/




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