Hess Increases 2017 E&P Budget to $2.25 Billion

January 17, 2017 Elizabeth Alford

Hess Corporation has announced it will increase E&P spending for 2017, including adding more Bakken rigs.

For 2017, Hess plans to spend $2.25 billion for E&P activity, a hefty increase from the $1.9 billion spent in 2016. The company will allocate that money to the following:

$700 million for unconventional shale resources
$375 million for production
$825 million for developments
$350 million for exploration and appraisal activities
$425 million of its development budget will be used to drill two wells and complete three wells, install the tension leg platform and progress development of the Stampede Field in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico to achieve first oil in 2018.

Hess will also add additional rigs in the Bakken and predicts the region's net production in 2017 will average between 95,000 and 105,000 boepd.

Fourth Quarter Highlights

Fourth quarter results include a noncash charge of $3.8 billion to “establish valuation allowances against net deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2016, as required under accounting standards following a three-year cumulative loss.”