APA exceeds its quarterly profit forecasts as lower costs offset the weak price, output

Oil and 'gas company APA beat the fourth-quarter profit estimate?on Friday. This was helped by lower operational costs that offset the impact of weaker commodity prices & a decrease in?production.

The global?crude oil price has been impacted by the growing fears of a glut, and the prospect that Venezuela will add more barrels to supply. WTI crude oil prices fell by about 20% between 2025 and 2026, while they dropped 8% during the quarter of October-December.

The company said that the average realized oil price for the third quarter fell 15.7% to $61.03 per barrel, compared to a year ago, and the price of natural gas dropped by 4.6%, down $2.10 for a thousand cubic feet.

APA reported it produced 459 767 barrels equivalent to oil per day. This is down from 488 308 boepd a previous year.

APA's quarterly operating expenses were $1.49 billion in Q3 compared to $2?billion a yea ago.

The oil and gas company said last month that it had curtailed its production of U.S. Natural Gas and Natural Gas Liquids during the fourth quarter due to low prices.

APA, who curtailed production throughout fiscal 2025, has said that it will invest $2.1 billion upstream capital in the current year.

The company said that "Permian Development Capital is expected to be $1.2 Billion, plus an additional $100 M in projects to reduce LOE (lease operating expenses) sustainably over time."

The company is expecting current-year adjusted output of 371,000 boepd. This represents a decline from last year, driven by lower North Sea gas volumes and U.S. Gas as well as asset sales.

LSEG data shows that the company's adjusted profits for the quarter ended December 31 were 91 cents per share, compared to analysts' average estimates of 64 cents.

Its net income was down to $279 million from $354 million the year before. (Reporting from Bengaluru by Sumit S. Saha; editing by Maju Samuel.)

(source: Reuters)