Hess sinks deeper into the red

U.S. oil and gas company Hess sank deeper into the red during the second quarter of the year compared to the same period last year as its revenues dipped on lower oil and gas prices.

In a report on Wednesday, Hess booked a net loss for the second quarter of 2020 of $320 million compared with a net loss of $6 million in the second quarter of 2019.

On an adjusted basis, the second quarter 2019 net loss was $28 million.

The decrease in after-tax results compared with adjusted results in the prior-year period primarily reflects lower realized selling prices.

E&P net loss was $249 million in the second quarter of 2020, compared with net income of $68 million in the second quarter of 2019.

Hess booked revenues of $842 million in 2Q 2020, down from revenues of $1.7 billion in the prior-year quarter.

Oil and gas net production, excluding Libya, averaged 334,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up 22 per cent from 273,000 boepd in the second quarter of 2019.

Bakken net production was 194,000 boepd, up 39 per cent from 140,000 boepd in the prior-year quarter.

The improved performance primarily resulted from a 39 per cent increase in Bakken production and production from the Liza field, offshore Guyana, which started in December 2019.

Including hedging, the corporation’s average realized crude oil selling price was $39.03 per barrel in the second quarter of 2020, compared with $60.45 per barrel in the year-ago quarter.

The average realized natural gas liquids (NGL) selling price in the second quarter of 2020 was $7.32 per barrel, compared with $12.18 per barrel in the prior-year quarter, while the average realized natural gas selling price was $2.41 per mcf, compared with $3.92 per mcf in the second quarter of 2019.

Hess revised its previous full-year guidance and its net production guidance, excluding Libya, increased to approximately 330,000 boepd, up from the previous guidance of approximately 320,000 boepd.

Exploration and Production (E&P) capital and exploratory expenditures were $453 million, compared with $664 million in the prior-year quarter.

The decrease is primarily driven by the lower rig count in the Bakken and reduced development drilling in the Gulf of Mexico during the second quarter of 2020.