Apache 1Q profit doubles, as production and prices climb

Results still missed Wall Street's expectations, and shares fell $4.15, or 3.1 percent, to $130.53 in morning trading.

Apache earned $1.02 billion, or $3.03 per share, compared with a year-ago profit of $491.5 million, or $1.47 per share. Adjusted to exclude foreign currency gains, the company earned $2.99 per share, compared with $1.48 per share in the 2007 period.

Revenue rose 59 percent to $3.19 billion, from $2 billion a year earlier.

Analysts, who generally exclude one-time items, expected profit of $3.06 per share on revenue of $3.05 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.

The company said production rose 4 percent as output from the U.S., the North Sea and Egypt increased. Apache's average price for a barrel of crude oil jumped to $89.25 in the quarter, from $55.87 in the 2007 period. Natural gas prices rose to an average of $6.42 per thousand cubic feet of natural gas equivalent, compared with $5.22 per thousand cubic feet a year earlier.

Apache shares fell $6.34, or 4.7 percent, to $128.34 in morning trading.