American energy major Hess Corporation saw its capital expenditure rise and its net loss reduce during the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to the same quarter of 2017.
Exploration and production capital and exploratory expenditure for the firm were $618 million in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to $568 million in the same quarter a year ago, according to its financial statement released Wednesday.
The Corporation said exploration and production capital and exploratory expenditure are expected to be $2.9 billion in 2019, up from $2.07 billion in 2018.
The company's net loss shrunk significantly to $4 million in the October-December period of 2018, compared with a net loss of $2.68 billion during the same period of 2017, the statement said.
In the fourth quarter of last year, the firm posted revenue of $1.68 billion, up 30 percent from $1.29 billion in the final quarter of the previous year.
Total revenue rose from $5.39 billion in 2017 by 20 percent to $6.47 billion in 2018.
- Production up 15 percent
Oil and natural gas production averaged 267,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the fourth quarter of 2018, excluding output from Libya.
In the prolific Bakken region, located in the U.S. state of North Dakota, net production was up 15 percent to reach 126,000 boepd, from 110,000 boepd, during that period.
In 2019, oil and gas production, excluding Libya, is forecast to be in the range of 270,000 to 280,000 boepd, slightly up compared to 248,000 boepd in 2018.
Hess CEO John Hess said in the statement that the company's portfolio will have a break-even Brent price of less than $40 per barrel by 2025.
'With our strong execution in 2018, our portfolio is well positioned to deliver approximately 20 percent compound annual cash flow growth and more than 10 percent compound annual production growth through 2025,' he said.
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr