Houston’s Apache Corp. has returned online most curtailed volumes in the Permian Basin as commodity prices have improved, but finishing uncompleted wells will take precedence over ramping up development, CEO John J. Christmann IV said Thursday.

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Christmann led a conference call to discuss the quarterly results for the global independent, which has put a lower priority on its Lower 48 fields to concentrate capital in international prospects, most notably Suriname.

The gassy Alpine High development in West Texas, until recently the independent’s No. 1 global field, is seeing more activity of late as prices have moved higher, Christmann said.

“Given the very favorable service cost environment, Apache recently commissioned two fracture stimulation crews” for the Permian to...