Hess Corp., one of the top five Bakken producers, appears to be undeterred by lower oil prices, announcing plans to increase its five year production forecast this week.

After a successful Bakken downspacing pilot program in 2014, Hess told investors it would increase its net peak production guidance in the play to ~175,000 boe/d by 2020. The increase means the company would add an additional 1,000 well locations to a total of more than 4,000.

Hess told investors that he believes prices will rebound, and also pointed to drilling efficiency gains made in the Bakken that reduce the cost of drilling a Bakken well.

Hess' Tioga Gas Plant Expansion Project Paying Off

At the beginning of the year, poor weather conditions delayed work on Hess' Tioga gas plant expansion project, negatively impacting Bakken production in the first-quarter. By the second-quarter, production returned to expected levels, and at the end of the third-quarter production from the Bakken increased 21% year-over-year to 86,000 boe/d, due in part to the completion of the expansion project.

Read more:Hess Production To Soar in the Bakken By the End of 2014

Hess' Q3 Bakken Operations

Hess brought 59 gross operated wells on production in the third-quarter, bringing the year-to-date total to 142 wells. Drilling and completion costs per operated well averaged $7.2 million in the third-quarter of 2014, a reduction of 8% from the third-quarter of 2013.

Read more at hess.com