Hess Corporation reported on Wednesday that its capital and exploratory expenditure for the second quarter of 2022 totaled US$622 million compared with US$429 million in the prior year’s quarter. The company said this is primarily due to higher drilling and development activities in the Bakken, Gulf of Mexico, Guyana, and Malaysia.
The company noted that for the reporting period, net production from the Bakken was 140,000 boepd, which remained within its guidance range for the second quarter, reflecting unplanned production shut-ins caused by severe weather in April and May. Net production in the second quarter of 2021 was 159,000 boepd. During the second quarter of 2022, the corporation said it operated three rigs and drilled 20 wells, completed 19 wells, and brought 19 new wells online. In July, the corporation said it added a fourth drilling rig.
As for net production from the Gulf of Mexico, this was 29,000 boepd, compared with 52,000 boepd in the prior-year quarter, primarily due to field decline and unplanned downtime at the Stampede and Penn State fields.
At the Stabroek block, Hess said net production totaled 67,000 bopd in the second quarter of 2022 compared with 26,000 bopd in the prior-year quarter.
Investments by Hess are expected to grow particularly in Guyana where it has four sanctioned developments on the Stabroek Block.
The Liza Phase One and Two developments have reached capacity at a combined 360,000 gross barrels of oil per day.
Payara is on track to come online in late 2023, with production capacity of approximately 220,000 gross bopd. Yellowtail will be the largest development to date and is expected to come online in 2025, with a production capacity of approximately 250,000 gross bopd. At least six FPSOs with a production capacity of more than one million gross bopd are expected to be online on the Stabroek Block in 2027, with the potential for up to 10 FPSOs to develop gross discovered recoverable resources.
ExxonMobil holds a 45% operating interest in the Stabroek Block, while Hess holds 30% interest and CNOOC holds 25% interest.
