News | February 3, 1999

APACHE'S FIRST COTE D'IVOIRE PRODUCTION WELL TESTS 40.6 MMCF/DAY

HOUSTON, Feb. 3 /PRNewswire/-- Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) said today the Foxtrot Consortium's first production well, the Foxtrot A-1, offshore Cote d'Ivoire tested 40.6 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas and 600 barrels of condensate per day, with a calculated absolute open flow potential of approximately 350 MMcf per day.

Initial production of 30 MMcf per day from the Foxtrot field is expected to begin in the first quarter under a take-or-pay contract. Minimum production will escalate to 50 MMcf per day in 2001. A second well is currently being drilled.

The Foxtrot A-1 well was tested at a flowing tubing pressure of 2,000 pounds per square inch (psi) on a 1-inch choke. Perforations were between 7,695 feet and 8,717 feet in the Albian sands. A potential oil column below the gas productive interval will be tested at a later date.

Foxtrot is Cote d'Ivoire's largest gas field, with 660 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of proved natural gas reserves. The Foxtrot production platform is located approximately 11 miles (18 kilometers) offshore. Apache and its partners have constructed a pipeline network to transport the gas to two electric generating plants near Abidjan, the nation's capital. Condensate and oil will travel the same route through a separate liquids line to be delivered to a nearby refinery.

Apache has a 24-percent interest in Foxtrot and is the operator. Other participants in the consortium are SECI, a member of the Bouygues group of France, with 24 percent; ENERCI, a subsidiary of Electricite de France and Gaz de France with 12 percent; and Petroci, the Ivorian national oil company, with 40 percent.

Apache Corporation is a large gas and oil independent with operations in North America, Egypt, Western Australia, Poland, the People's Republic of China and Cote d'Ivoire. Its shares are traded on the New York and Chicago stock exchanges.
SOURCE Apache Corporation



02/03/99 /CONTACT: media, Tony Lentini, 713-296-6227, or Bill Mintz, 713-296-7276, or investor, Robert Dye, 713-296-6662, all of Apache Corporation/

/Web site: http://www.apachecorp.com/ (APA)
CO: Apache Corporation; SECI; ENERCI; Electricite de France; Gaz de
France;

Petroci ST: Texas, France, Cote d'Ivoire IN: OIL SU:





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