HOUSTON, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. energy explorer Apache Corp. said "unusually severe weather" in southern states affected its oil and gas production levels during the fourth quarter.
"The company experienced widespread power outages primarily in West Texas and New Mexico in late November and early December, with icy road conditions contributing to delays in immediately resuming operations," Apache said in a statement Thursday.
The company said the severe weather caused disruptions to its pipeline activity and other operations in the Permian basin, which is spread out over western Texas and New Mexico.
Apache said fourth-quarter production in the region increased from the previous quarter by around 1,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. That's in contrast to the third-quarter production increase of 8,400 barrels of oil equivalent from the second quarter.
A similar trend was reported from the company's operations in the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma, where it said drilling activity was curtailed by severe weather.
"The combination of unusually severe weather, pipeline outages and reduced drilling [in the region] resulted in a slight decrease in production for the fourth quarter 2013 compared with third quarter 2013," Apache said.
