Apache to divest assets worth $4 billion

Apache Corp. will sell properties worth $4 billion by the end of 2013 in what G. Steven Farris, chairman and chief executive officer, described as a program to “divest noncore assets while retaining those that drive long-term growth and generate cash from operations.”

Farris announced the plan in Apache’s report of first-quarter earnings, which totaled $698 million, down from $778 billion in the first quarter of 2012. The company’s global oil and gas production increased to an average 781,819 boe/d in the first quarter from 769,296 boe/d in the same quarter a year earlier.

Apache will use half the divestment proceeds to reduce debt and increase financial flexibility and the other half to buy shares of its common stock representing about 7.5% of the total outstanding.

Farris said the decision to sell property follows “a strategic portfolio review to identify assets that no longer fit our growth profile.”