Last year in North America, Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) averaged 79 rigs and drilled 1,300 wells. That renewed focus closer to home paid off, as the company enjoyed organic production replacement of 230%. It grew its liquids production in North America by 34%.

“In 2009 we were 34% North America production and today we find ourselves at 60%,” John Christmann, COO North America, told the Houston Producers Forum.

“Companies go through life cycles. From 1998 to 2009, Apache used domestic cash flow from the Midcontinent and Gulf of Mexico (GoM) Shelf to drive our international expansion. Now we’ve come back home, and international is driving growth in the U.S. and Canada.”

Recently, the company has been selling some of its overseas and offshore assets (exiting Argentina and the GoM Shelf, and trimming in Canada) and come back to its U.S. onshore roots.

Today, cash flow from its prolific fields in Egypt and offshore Australia is fueling North American production growth, especially in the Midcontinent and Permian Basin, he said. In each of the latter regions, Apache grew its reserves by 14% last year.

“We look at 2014 as a critical year,” Christmann said. By that, he means the company will continue to focus on increasing its liquids production (already 58% of the total) and increasing its dividend. The latter was raised 18% in 2013 and will go up 25% in 2014.

The Permian region replaced 323% of production through drilling, and increased proved reserves by nearly 14% to 910 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe). The Central region, including Oklahoma, replaced 195% of production and increased proved reserves nearly 14% to 304 MMboe.

Apache’s Permian Basin growth profile has been outstanding. Since Christmann moved to Midland, Texas in 2010 to open an office, investment on its 1.7 million net acres in the Permian grew from $400 million to $2.6 billion annually. Production rose from 66.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (MMboe/d) to 127.1 MMboe/d. He grew the employee headcount in Midland to 970 currently from 345, but he has recently relocated back to Houston.

Thanks to greater efficiencies and pad drilling, this year in the Permian, Apache will increase the number of horizontal wells it drills by 60%--yet with flat capex.

Apache estimates the evaluated resource in the Permian is 4.8 billion boe net to the company. In the deep Anadarko Basin, where it is the No. 1 driller, it holds 1.8 million acres.

“In 2009 we made a decision to split Permian and Central into two distinct divisions, and now, both are bigger than they were combined.”

More cash flow from international operations lies ahead. Once Chevron Corp.’s (NYSE: CVX) Wheatstone LNG plant starts in 2016 offshore the North West Shelf of Australia, Apache (13%) will get $1 billion a year in cash flow for the next 20 years. “This will differentiate us in the future,” Christmann said. Then too, there is the 50 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gross gas reserves it holds in British Columbia, which the company and Chevron plan to export through a new LNG plant on the west coast.