U.S. energy operator APA Corporation (NASDAQ: APA) reported second-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $1.17 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 95 cents and improving from the year-ago adjusted figure of 85 cents. The outperformance primarily reflects higher-than-expected production owing to the contribution from the Callon Petroleum acquisition that was closed on Apr 1. Revenues of $2.8 billion were up 42.4% from the year-ago quarter's sales and came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 20.7%. Meanwhile, APA continues to reward shareholders with dividends and buybacks. APA bought back 1.5 million shares at $28.72 apiece during the second quarter. The company also shelled out $92 million in dividend payments. APA Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise APA Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | APA Corporation Quote Production & Selling Prices Production of oil and natural gas averaged 473,409 BOE/d, which comprises 71% liquids. The figure was up 18.7% from the year-ago quarter and surpassed our expectation of 450,182  BOE/d. U.S. output (accounting for 64% of the total) jumped 42.5% year over year to 303,416 BOE/d but production from the company's international operations decreased 8.7% to 169,993 BOE/d. APA's oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) production was 334,136 barrels per day (Bbl/d). Natural gas output totaled 835,639 thousand cubic feet per day (Mcf/d). The average realized crude oil price during the second quarter was $82.28 per barrel, up 7.7% from the year-ago realization of $76.38. The number also came above our projection of $77.21. Meanwhile, the average realized natural gas price ...