Hess Reports Decline in Earnings for Q4

Hess, the oil-and-gas production company, experienced a decrease in earnings during the fourth quarter, mainly due to a decline in prices for natural gas liquids. The company recorded a profit of $413 million, or $1.34 a share, compared to $497 million, or $1.61 a share, in the same period last year.

After adjusting for one-time items, the adjusted earnings per share were $1.63. This surpassed the expectations of analysts surveyed by FactSet, who had anticipated $1.45 per share.

Total revenue and nonoperating income slightly decreased to $3.04 billion from $3.05 billion in the previous year's quarter. However, this still exceeded analysts' expectations of $2.78 billion.

Hess experienced an 11% increase in oil and natural gas net production, reaching 418,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The surge was primarily driven by higher production in the Bakken shale oilfields and Guyana.

Despite a slight increase in the average realized crude oil selling price, from $76.07 to $76.63 per barrel year-over-year (including hedging effects), the average realized natural gas liquids selling price dropped significantly from $26.93 to $20.92 per barrel compared to the same period last year.