Oct 31 (Reuters) - U.S. oil and gas producer Apache Corp reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its U.S. production forecast for the year as it benefited from rising oil prices and increased output from the Permian basin.

Apache and its peers are reaping the benefit of a 44 percent surge in global crude oil prices from a year earlier. Oil prices are expected to rise further as U.S. sanctions on Iran remove a major supplier from the market.

The Houston-based company said average realized oil prices jumped about 40 percent to $69.12 per barrel, while total production rose to 476,255 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) from 448,235 boe/d a year earlier.

Production from Permian Basin, the largest U.S. oil field and the center of the country's shale industry, rose 38 percent to 222,259 boe/d.

U.S. shale oil production in the Permian has nearly doubled in the last three years to 3.4 million barrels per day (bpd).