Apache ready to offset lower prices

Article Excerpt

APACHE CORP. $27 (New York symbol APA; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 375.9 million; Market cap: $10.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 3.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apachecorp.com) produces oil and natural gas from properties in the U.S., Egypt and the U.K. Due to weaker crude oil prices, the company plans to spend $2.4 billion on exploration and upgrades in 2019. That’s down 20% from its earlier forecast of $3.0 billion. Despite the lower spending, Apache still expects its production to rise between 6% and 10% in the fourth quarter of 2019, to between 410,000 and 440,000 barrels a day. That’s because the company continues to develop its massive Alpine High discovery in West Texas. However, a lack of pipeline capacity in Texas could hinder the project’s expansion. Apache is still a hold. hold…