Noble Energy Inc. posted second-quarter net income Thursday of $292 million, a slight drop from the oil and gas company's $294 million profit during the same period last year.

The Houston-based company, a major producer in Weld County, said its net production from horizontal drilling in the Denver-Julesburg Basin increased 33 percent from last quarter to 24,000 barrels of oil per day.

Noble's net volumes in the Denver-Julesburg reached 73,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, of which 57 percent was crude oil and other liquids. It brought 38 wells online this year.

The company also reported discretionary cash flow of $703 million for the second quarter while capital spending amounted to $859 million.

Second-quarter sales volumes totaled 231,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from the 215,000 barrels last second quarter.

The increase came from crude oil, which surged 33 thousand barrels per day in the quarter.

The company's U.S. sales volumes increased 17 percent to 134,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. That growth came primarily from its horizontal drilling programs in the Denver-Julesburg and Marcellus, Noble said.

The company's operations in the Denver-Julesburg, along with ones in the Gulf of Mexico and Marcellus shale formation, will make "significant contributions" to production growth during the second half of the year, CEO Charles Davidson said in a statement.