Apache oil, gas acreage sell off continues

HOUSTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- U.S.-based energy company Apache Corp. said it was offloading acreage in Canada it said produced 38 million cubic feet of natural gas during the second quarter.

The company said it agreed to sell properties in Saskatchewan and Alberta in two separate transactions to undisclosed buyers for $112 million.

The company said the acreage includes 4,000 operated and 1,300 non-operated wells that produced, on average, 38 million cubic feet of natural gas during the second quarter.

Rodney Eichler, president and chief operating officer at Apache, said the company was focused on expanding its oil and natural gas production.

"Our extensive remaining acreage in these areas can generate attractive rates of return and provide for more predictable production growth," he said in a statement Tuesday.

Apache sold 621,000 gross acres in the Nevis, North Grant Lands and South Grant Lands areas of western Alberta to Canadian energy company Ember Resources Inc. for $214 million in August.

It recently sold China Petroleum Corp., known also as Sinopec, a 33 percent share in its oil and natural gas business in Egypt for $3.1 billion in cash. The U.S. company said it would continue serving as the operator at its upstream assets in Egypt.