Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) reported Q4 EPS of ($0.60), $0.18 worse than the analyst estimate of ($0.42). Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.7 billion versus the consensus estimate of $1.5 billion.

Key Developments:

• Commenced production on December 20, 2019 from the Liza Phase 1 Development at the Stabroek Block (Hess – 30 percent), offshore Guyana
• Announced a 15th discovery at the Mako-1 exploration well located approximately 6 miles southeast of the Liza Field in December
• Increased estimate of gross discovered recoverable resources for the Stabroek Block to more than 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) from the prior estimate of 6 billion boe
• Announced a 16th discovery at Uaru located approximately 10 miles northeast of the Liza Field in January 2020; the discovery will be incremental to new resources estimate
• Hess Corporation received approximately $300 million in cash and owns approximately 47 percent of Hess Midstream LP on a consolidated basis upon closing of its previously announced acquisition of Hess Infrastructure Partners LP

Fourth Quarter Financial and Operational Highlights:

• Net loss was $222 million, or $0.73 per common share, compared with a net loss of $4 million, or $0.05 per common share, in the fourth quarter of 2018
• Adjusted net loss1 was $180 million, or $0.60 per common share, compared with an adjusted net loss of $77 million, or $0.31 per common share, in the fourth quarter of last year
• Oil and gas net production averaged 316,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), excluding Libya, up from 267,000 boepd in the fourth quarter of 2018; Bakken net production was 174,000 boepd, up 38 percent from 126,000 boepd in the prior-year quarter
• Exploration and Production (E&P) capital and exploratory expenditures were $876 million, compared with $618 million in the prior-year quarter
• Cash and cash equivalents, excluding Midstream, were $1.54 billion at December 31, 2019
• Year-end proved reserves were 1,197 million boe; reserve replacement for 2019 was 104 percent (134 percent excluding price revisions)

2020 Guidance:

• E&P capital and exploratory expenditures are expected to be $3.0 billion
• Oil and gas production, excluding Libya, is forecast to be in the range of 330,000 boepd to 335,000 boepd, compared to full year 2019 net production, excluding Libya, of 290,000 boepd

“Our company had an outstanding year, achieving a number of important milestones and delivering higher production and lower capital and exploratory expenditures for the year than our guidance,” Chief Executive Officer John Hess said. “We look forward to continuing this momentum into 2020 and future years as we execute our differentiated long term strategy.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Hess Corp. (HES) click here.