Oil Company’s earnings fall but optimism remains about Guyana developments

Hess Corporation, one of the co-venturers in the prolific Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, announced its earnings for the first quarter of this year on Wednesday but those earnings are lower than the sum raked in for the same period last year.

According to a press release from Hess, a net income of US$346 million, or US$1.34 per share, was recorded in Q1 2023. For the same period last year, US$417 million was recorded.

“The decrease in after-tax results compared with the prior-year quarter reflects lower realised selling prices partially offset by the net impact of higher production volumes in the first quarter of 2023,” Hess said.

Nevertheless, the Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), John Hess expressed optimism in the company’s outlook, especially with developments in Guyana.

“With multiple phases of low-cost oil developments coming online in Guyana and our robust inventory of high-return drilling locations in the Bakken, our company is positioned to deliver durable cash flow growth that enables us to continue to invest in some of the highest-return projects in the industry and to grow our cash returns to our shareholders,” the Hess CEO was quoted as saying.

Aside from reporting its earnings, Hess also announced that a new viable oil discovery was made offshore Guyana at the Lancetfish-1 well.