core sector communique

Apache, Partners Sign Agreements to Sell LNG from Wheatstone to Kyushu Electric Power HOUSTON, Sept. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Apache Corporation (NYSE, Nasdaq: APA) today announced that an Apache Australian subsidiary and its partners have signed long-term sales and purchase agreements with Kyushu Electric Power Company, Inc. for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Chevron-operated Wheatstone Project in Western Australia. The Wheatstone partners agreed to supply Kyushu Electric with 0.7 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG for up to 20 years. Through its 13-percent share in the Wheatstone Project, Apache Julimar Pty Ltd, an Apache subsidiary, will supply 0.1 mtpa from natural gas produced at the Julimar and Brunello fields in offshore license WA-356-P. The LNG sales agreements are binding subject to a positive final investment decision (FID) by the Wheatstone partners to proceed with the project. Front-end engineering and design of the Wheatstone Project's first phase — consisting of two processing trains with a combined capacity of approximately 8.9 mtpa and a domestic gas plant — is complete, and the FID is expected during the second half of 2011. "Apache is pleased to announce this agreement with Kyushu Electric; it is an important milestone for the Wheatstone Project and Apache's plans to develop the Julimar and Brunello fields," said Janine McArdle, Apache's senior vice president of gas monetization. Apache Julimar Pty Ltd and KUFPEC Australia (Julimar) Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Co. k.s.c., own a 20-percent share in the LNG facility. Apache Julimar Pty Ltd has a 65-percent interest in Julimar-Brunello and the WA-356-P partners' share of the LNG facility. Apache's expected net share of LNG sales to Kyushu Electric is equivalent to approximately 13 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The Apache and KUFPEC subsidiaries will develop facilities to supply gas from their Julimar and Brunello discoveries to Wheatstone. Apache is operator of the WA-356-P segment of the project. The Wheatstone onshore facilities will be located at Ashburton North near Onslow in Western Australia. Apache Corporation is an oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, Canada, Egypt, the United Kingdom North Sea, Australia and Argentina