The firm intends to allocate increased budget to continue exploration and development activities offshore Guyana and for the Bakken Shale in North Dakota.
Hess CEO John said: “We are allocating approximately two thirds of our 2018 budget to our transformative investment opportunity in Guyana that continues to get bigger and better and to our low cost position in the core of the Bakken, which together are expected to drive industry leading returns for Hess shareholders for many years to come
Of the total allocated budget, the firm plans to invest $1.1bn for production, $555m for offshore developments and $375m for exploration and appraisal activities.
In the Bakken Shale, Hess plans to allocate $900m to increase the rig count from four to six by the end of 2018 as well as to drill approximately 120 new wells and to bring about 95 new wells online.
The firm said it would spend $175m for its activities in North Malay basin proeject and the Malaysia/Thailand Joint Development Area in the Gulf of Thailand.
Hess also seeks to invest to complete five previously drilled wells in the Utica Shale in Ohio.
In Guyana, the firm plans to allocate $250m budget for Liza Phase 1 development project and $65m for front end engineering and design work for future development phases and capitalized interest in Guyana.
The company also plans to invest $240m for continued development of the Stampede Field in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Hess holds 25% stake and is operator of the field, which is expected to commence operations in the first quarter of 2018.
In 2017, Hess divested its subsidiary Hess Norge, which owns stakes in the Valhall and Hod fields in Norway, to Aker BP in a bid to focus on higher return assets while selling more mature, higher cost assets.
Image: Hess intends to invest $375m for exploration and appraisal activities. Photo: courtesy of suwatpo/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
