Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) reported on Thursday much higher-than-expected net income for the first quarter of 2024 amid soaring oil and gas production, as the planned acquisition by U.S. supermajor Chevron drags on.
Hess Corporation posted a net income of $972 million, or $3.16 per share, in the first quarter of 2024, compared with net income of $346 million, or $1.13 per share, in the first quarter of 2023. The rise in profits reflects higher production volumes in the first quarter of 2024, Hess said.
The earnings per share (EPS) of $3.16 beat the analyst consensus in the Wall Street Journal of $1.71 by a mile.
Hess's oil and gas net production jumped to 476,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up by 27% from 374,000 boepd in the first quarter of 2023. Hess's net production in the Bakken increased by 17% to 190,000 boepd, while net production in Guyana soared by 70% to 190,000 bopd, up from 112,000 bopd in the same quarter last year.
Due to the pending merger with Chevron, Hess will not host a conference call to review its first-quarter 2024 results.
The Guyana and Bakken assets were the drivers of Chevron's acquisition offer for Hess in an all-stock megadeal valued at $53 billion.
However, the Guyana assets have become the bone of contention between Chevron and the other U.S. supermajor, ExxonMobil, which is the operator of Guyana's prolific and lucrative offshore Stabroek block, with Hess and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) as partners.
Exxon claims it has the right to first refusal to acquire the stake of Hess Corp in the Stabroek block, from which Exxon and its current partners pump more than 500,000 bpd of crude from several projects.
Last month, ExxonMobil and CNOOC merged their arbitration claims against Chevron's takeover of Hess's stake in the most prolific oil block offshore Guyana.
Earlier this month, Hess said that Chevron's acquisition could be delayed until next year due to Exxon Mobil's arbitration case.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More