Hess -- Best-Performing US Oil Company So Far This Year -- August 21, 2019

Re-posting:

From The WSJ --

Hess Corp. has emerged as the best-performing U.S. oil company this year.

The reasons have little to do with the American fracking boom. Instead, Hess’s popularity with investors is rooted in a small South American nation.

The New York-based company holds a 30% stake in an immense offshore oil field being developed by Exxon Mobil Corp. in Guyana that appears poised to become one of the most lucrative megaprojects in years.

The company’s shares have surged more than 50% in 2019, the biggest increase of any major U.S. oil operator, excluding companies acquired in deals.

It is a peculiar scenario for Hess, one of the largest shale producers in North Dakota: shareholders are excited about a prized asset it has an interest in, but doesn’t control.

Hess acquired its stake in Guyana from Royal Dutch Shell PLC in 2014 for an undisclosed price.

The company initially estimated the resource total at about 500 million barrels of oil. Now it appears to be at least 12 times that amount, making it one of the most significant discoveries in decades.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, job, travel, career, or relationship decisions based on what you read here. But I do have to say that I started accumulating Hess about a year ago but for all the wrong reasons. It might make up for holding on to some real "dogs" that I should have sold years ago. Whatever.