Nov 1 (Reuters) - APA Corp (APA.O) on Wednesday beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit as the U.S. shale producer benefited from a rise in production and healthy crude oil prices.

U.S. WTI crude prices climbed around 28% in the July-September quarter after top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia extended output cuts, but they remained below last year's multi-year peaks when Russia invaded Ukraine.

APA said its quarterly total average price for oil fell to $86.15 per barrel from last year's $97.81 per barrel.

"Good execution and strong well performance in the Permian Basin were the primary drivers of APA’s third-quarter results," CEO John Christmann said in a statement.

Production for the July-September quarter rose about 8% to 412,252 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) from a year earlier.

The company expects total production to be down slightly in the current quarter from the third, citing downtime in the North Sea and a decline in natural gas volumes.

APA, which hold interest in Suriname's Block 58, also confirmed an estimated recoverable oil resources of 700 million barrels of oil at Sapakara and Krabdagu discoveries.

French energy major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) operates Block 58, with a 50% working interest, while APA holds the other half.

Suriname's oil potential is closely watched as some of its fields are adjacent to the Stabroek block in Guyana, where an Exxon Mobil-led (XOM.N) consortium has made more than 25 discoveries since May 2015.

Houston-based APA posted adjusted earnings of $1.33 per share for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with the average analyst estimate of $1.09, according to LSEG data.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-producer-apa-beats-third-quarter-profit-estimates-2023-11-01/