Hope you all still have your APA BECAUSE...
Apache Plans to Repurchase $140 Million in Stock This Year
Boston, March 6 (Bloomberg) -- Apache Corp., an oil and
natural-gas exploration company, said it plans to buy back as much
as $140 million in stock this year to boost its share price.
Based on Friday's closing price, Apache could buy back as
much as 3.68 million shares, or about 3.2 percent of its
outstanding shares.
Houston-based Apache is generating more cash this year than
it's spending to boost production, because oil prices are near
nine-year highs. The company plans to spend $600 million this year
to boost production in North America, Egypt, and Australia, said
Robert Dye, vice president of investor relations.
Apache estimates that if oil prices average $25 a barrel and
gas prices average $2.60 a thousand cubic feet this year, the
company will generate about $880 million in cash. Apache will use
about $140 million of the excess cash for share repurchases, Dye
said at a CIBC World Markets energy conference in Boston.
Crude oil rose 37 cents to $31.88 today on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. It touched a nine-year high of $32.15 on
Thursday. Natural gas was unchanged at $2.825.
Apache has spent $19.2 million this year to buy back stock,
Dye said. It repurchased 448,100 shares of common stock at an
average cost of $37.08 and 75,900 convertible preferred shares at
an average cost of $34.42.
Apache had 1999 sales of $1.3 billion. Its shares rose 1 7/8
to 39 7/8 in midafternoon trading. |
