(Reuters) – Oil and gas producer Hess Corp on Wednesday beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on higher production, days after agreeing to be bought by larger U.S. rival Chevron Corp for $53 billion.
The company reported a net income, excluding items, of $1.64 per share for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $1.15, according to LSEG data.
Revenue of $2.84 billion also beat expectations of $2.34 billion.
New York-based Hess’s net production was 395,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the quarter, compared to 351,000 boepd a year earlier.
The company forecast production to be around 410,000 boepd in the fourth quarter.
Hess said its worldwide average realized crude oil selling price, excluding hedges, was $81.53 per barrel in the quarter, compared to $71.13 in the preceding quarter and $85.32 a year earlier.
Production from Guyana totaled 108,000 boepd, 10% higher compared with the prior-year quarter. The third development in the country, the Payara oil project, is expected to start in the fourth quarter.
Chevron is set to get Hess’s 30% stake in the massive discoveries in Guyana in which larger rival Exxon Mobil and China’s CNOOC are partners. Production at the Stabroek oil block is expected to triple to more than 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2027.
Quarterly production at the Bakken shale field in North Dakota, the second largest U.S. shale formation, averaged nearly 14% year-on-year, the company said, helped by increased drilling and well completion activity, and higher natural gas volumes.
Net cash from operating activities was $986 million, compared with $1.34 billion a year earlier.
(Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
