Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) said March 7 it expected a 25% rise in oil sales volumes in 2017 and that it would boost its capital budget to focus on higher-margin oil production.

The company forecast initial capex of $4.5 billion to $4.7 billion for the current year, compared with $3.31 billion in 2016.

Anadarko announced the sale of its Eagle Ford Shale assets in South Texas for about $2.3 billion in January to focus on more high-return properties such as Texas' Delaware Basin, the Denver-Julesburg (D-J) Basin in Colorado and the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GoM).

"Our 2017 initial capital program is designed to leverage our streamlined portfolio and sharpened focus on higher-margin oil production, which is expected to generate stronger returns and substantial cash flow," CEO Al Walker said.

About 80% of the total capex will be used to fund U.S. onshore upstream and midstream activities and the company's expanded position in the deepwater GoM, Walker said.

Anadarko said it expected an 80% jump in the rate of production from the Delaware Basin, which is situated in the larger Permian Basin, and a 30% increase from the D-J Basin in 2017.

The company plans to invest about $1.1 billion in its deepwater GoM, Algeria and Ghana assets.

Houston-based Anadarko expects to sell between 357,000 barrels per day (Mbbl/d) to 362 Mbbl/d in 2017, compared with 287 Mbbl/d of oil a year earlier.

Shares of the company were down 1.84% at $62 in extended trading.