Apache Corp. said it was strengthening its position in the North American market through the $2.1 billion sale of its Australian subsidiary.

The company said it sold the subsidiary to a private equity management company for cash. Total production for the Australian entity was around 49,000 barrels of oil equivalent last month.

John Christmann, chief executive officer at Apache, said the divestment is a significant step in the company's portfolio restructuring plan.

"Over the last five years, we have transitioned Apache's primary growth engine to North America onshore through the announcement or completion of approximately $17 billion of asset purchases and $17 billion of asset sales," he said. "Following the sale of our Australian assets, approximately 70 percent of Apache's production will come from North America onshore."

Apache last week sold off its liquefied natural gas assets, including the giant Wheatstone LNG project, to Australian energy company Woodside Petroleum.

The first phase of the Wheatstone project envisions deliveries of up to 8.9 million tons of LNG per year from third-party gas projects in Australia. Royal Dutch Shell dumped Wheatstone assets last year and sold off parts of its refinery presence in the country to Woodside Petroleum in a deal valued at $7.4 billion.

Apache last year said it was repositioning itself as a major North American player, where output in the oil sector is "repeatable [and] predictable."