APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

John Christmann: It’s in general right now; it’s a placeholder for the things we want to do. But there’s seismic that’ll be being shot in Suriname in the where would be the development area, some other things. So it’ll capture our exploration spend for next year and we’ll come back with more details in February.

Operator: And our next question comes from Geoff Jay with Daniel Energy Partners. Go ahead, Geoff.

Geoff Jay: Hey, guys, thanks for taking the question. Really my question is around U.S. oil production, which looks like it’s taken a pretty impressive step change. I mean, obviously you completed some more wells but obviously several quarters where it was just kind of locked into the 70s. Now we’ve taken this 8,000 barrel a day step-up in Q3. And I’m wondering a) what changed and b) if there’s something that’s happened that has kind of prompted this decision to add another rig in the Delaware. Thanks.

John Christmann: There I mean it’s really just a continuous program. I mean, we’re seeing the benefit of the deliberate approach we’ve taken. We’ve been focused on long laterals and really locking the rig lines down and giving the teams time to execute and you’re seeing that we’ve continued to drill long laterals and we’re continuing to have good results. It’s really just a function of the timing of the completions. In terms of adding the sixth rig, it’s really more allocation of capital from the North Sea into the Permian. And — but we look forward to continuing to deliver strong results. And if you look fourth quarter is a little flattish compared to third quarter. A lot of that’s because third quarter is running ahead versus fourth quarter running behind. So we’re very, very pleased with the execution level in the U.S.

Operator: I am showing no further questions at this time. So this concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn it back to John Christmann, President and CEO, for closing remarks.

John Christmann: Yes. Thank you for participating on our call this morning. I want to leave you with the following thoughts. We’ve completed a successful appraisal program in Suriname at Sapakara and Krabdagu and will advance a project through the feed process during 2024. In Egypt, gross oil production continues to increase on the success of our drilling program. And lastly, we continue to deliver outstanding results in the Permian, where we’ve added a sixth rig which will add to the momentum as we enter 2024. We look forward to telling you more about the things in February and thank you for the call.

Operator: And this does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.