Apache Corp., Houston, (NYSE, Nasdaq: APA) reports the Hostetter #1-23H well in Washita County, Oklahoma, is producing 17 million cubic feet of gas and 800 barrels of liquid hydrocarbons per day.

The Hostetter #1-23H is Apache's first operated horizontal well in the Granite Wash play and was drilled to a depth of 12,500 feet with a 4,000-foot horizontal section and eight separate fracture-stimulation stages. Apache owns a 72% working interest in the well.

Apache central region vice president Rob Johnston says, “Apache controls more than 200,000 acres across the play, primarily held by production. The Granite Wash stacked sandstones extend more than 100 miles across western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. Apache has drilled hundreds of vertical wells across the play, and horizontal drilling technology has unlocked hundreds of additional opportunities on Apache's acreage.

He adds the high liquid hydrocarbon content in the Granite Wash is what makes the play attractive to the company in the current low-gas-price environment.

By year-end, Apache will operate four horizontal drilling rigs in the immediate area and plans to drill more than 20 horizontal Granite Wash wells in 2010.

Apache has oil and gas operations in the U.S., Canada, Egypt, the U.K. North Sea, Australia and Argentina.