Two years after it scored 600,000 Permian Basin acres in two multibillion-dollar deals, Apache Corp. shows no sign of slowing down there.

“It’s an exciting time to be in Midland,” Apache’s vice president, Permian Region, John Christmann said at Hart Energy’s A&D Strategies Conference on Sept. 6 in Dallas.

Apache plans to complete 10 horizontal wells targeting the Cline formation in the Midland basin this year, and is planning 33 horizontal wells in Wolfcamp.

The company has seen steady growth in terms of production, rig count, investment, cash flow and employment in the Permian since the 2010 acquisitions, Christmann said.

In 2010, the Apache was running only five rigs in the play, compared with 32 today on the company’s current 1.8 million net acres. The company has also seen an increase from $1.1 billion in cash flow to $1.9 billion, and employment in the play has more than doubled from 345 to 792.

The play currently produces 104.5 MBOE/d, 70% of which are liquids. Christmann said that’s a 15% increase since last year. Christmann also said Apache will spend more than $2 billion in the play in 2012.

Going forward, Christmann said Apache is in the middle of appraising the Deadwood and Atoka/Barnett. He also said the company is “getting ready to get busy” in the emerging Delaware basin, which already has more than 1,800 drilling locations.