Shares of Apache fell 3.5 percent, weighed down by the market’s broad losses and weakness in crude oil.
Most oil and gas companies saw profits rise in the second quarter as oil and natural gas prices climbed from a year ago. US benchmark WTI crude prices averaged $102 in the quarter, up 32 percent, while natural gas prices rose about 6 percent.
Oil and natural gas liquids — which bring higher prices than “dry” gas — accounted for 48 percent of Apache’s production and 78 percent of its revenue, the Houston company said.
“They have a good amount of their production tied to Brent, which is a good thing,” said Mark Hanson, oil analyst at Morningstar. European Brent oil prices
Apache’s profit in the second quarter was $1.2 billion, or $3.17 per share, compared with $860 million or $2.53 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items, earnings were $3.22 per share. Analysts had expected $3.09, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Oil and gas output rose 16 percent to a record 749,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day.
Some analysts had expected Apache’s oil and gas production be even greater. Barclay’s Capital pegged it at 759,000 boe per day, while Simmons & Co. expected 756,000 boe per day.
Apache also said it had made two new oil discoveries in Egypt’s Faghur Basin. The company has drilled 11 wells in the Faghur Basin this year, uninterrupted by unrest in that country.
