Hess 4Q11 Earnings

From Yahoo!In-Play:

Hess beats by $0.40, beats on revs. 

Earnings of $1.66 per share, $0.40 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.26; revenues rose 9.9% year/year to $9.7 bln vs the $9.59 bln consensus.

Exploration and Production earnings were $517 mln in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with $527 mln in the fourth quarter of 2011. Fourth quarter oil and gas production was 396,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from 367,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the fourth quarter a year ago, primarily reflecting an increase in production from the Bakken oil shale play and the resumption of operations in Libya, partly offset by the shut-in of the Valhall Field in Norway for the quarter due to the redevelopment project. Net production from the Bakken oil shale play averaged 64,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the fourth quarter of 2012, an increase of 68% from 38,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the same period last year.

During 2012, the Corporation added 214 mln barrels of oil equivalent to proved reserves and sold 83 mln barrels of oil equivalent of proved reserves through asset dispositions. The additions, which are subject to final review, replaced approximately 141 percent of the Corporation's 2012 production, resulting in a reserve life of 10.3 years.