Apache CEO expects sales of noncore assets

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apache Corp (APA.N) Chief Executive Steve Farris said on Thursday that he expected oil and gas companies to start selling off noncore assets as cash flows drop due to lower energy prices.

Farris, speaking at the Reuters Global Energy Summit in Houston, said that industry cash flows had dropped by about 50 percent since last year. That would prompt companies to focus only on the opportunities where they have the best chance for success, he said.

"People are going to start looking at the things they do well and that they want to (focus) on, and the things that they don't -- including the majors," Farris said. "I think the reality of having $3.81 gas in the third quarter is going to wake some people up in that it's time to start thinking about that."

Farris also said his company was looking to buy assets in the areas where it already operates.

"We like to play to our strengths," he said, classifying Egypt, Australia, Argentina, Canada, central Oklahoma, west Texas, and the shallower part of the Gulf of Mexico as the company's strongest areas.

"All those places we would tack on to," he said.

(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)