Apache
to Sell 50 MMcf Per Day for $5 Per MMBtu Through Argentina's Gas Plus Program
HOUSTON,
Oct 05, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Apache
Corporation (NYSE, Nasdaq: APA) today announced government approvals of new
contracts to supply 50 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas per day from
two fields in Argentina's Neuquen and Rio Negro provinces at a price of $5
per million British thermal units (MMBtu).
"The
new contracts - the first approved by the secretary of energy under the
government's Gas Plus program - are examples of Argentine government policies
that will encourage development of tight and unconventional natural gas
reservoirs and bring new supplies of much needed energy to market," said
Jon Graham, president of Apache Argentina.
During
the second quarter, Apache produced 193 MMcf of gas per day in Argentina at
an average price of $1.89 per Mcf, including sales to regulated residential
and power generation markets as well as deregulated industrial markets.
Regulators recently approved price increases in the residential and power
generation sectors.
The Gas
Plus contracts will commence in January 2011, although the customer - a power
plant operator - has indicated it may begin taking gas in mid-2010.
To
fulfill the contract, Apache is planning to drill up to 12 wells to tap deep
unconventional natural gas reservoirs in the Anticlinal Campamento field in
the Neuquen Basin - a complex geologic setting which requires drilling highly
deviated wellbores completed with multiple hydraulic fracture stimulations.
At the Estacion Fernandez Oro field in Rio Negro province, Apache is planning
to drill up to 36 wells, each with multiple hydraulic fracture stimulations,
to develop the low-permeability Lower Lajas sandstone formation at a depth of
12,500 feet. Apache will provide measurement and production facilities for
the Gas Plus volumes separate from the rest of the fields' production
facilities.
"These
reserves would not be developed without the incentives of the Gas Plus
program," Graham said. "Apache has submitted five additional
development projects for approval under Gas Plus."
Apache
Corporation is a large oil and gas independent with operations in the United
States, Canada, the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea, Egypt, Australia
and Argentina.
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 most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, on our
Web site and in our other public filings and press releases. 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.
APA-AR
SOURCE Apache Corporation
http://www.apachecorp.com