Page 7 - NorthAmOil Week 43 2022
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NorthAmOil PERFORMANCE NorthAmOil
Hess’ production up 32% year on year
AMERICAS HESS has seen its oil and gas production increase since OPEC’s decision to slash production tar-
more than 32% year on year, the company said gets by 2mn barrels per day (bpd).
in its third-quarter earnings report. Most of the In its third-quarter results, Hess reported that
production increase came from North Dako- its net cash from operating activities was $1.34bn
ta’s Bakken play and offshore Guyana in Latin in the quarter, up from $615mn a year earlier.
America. Its exploration and production (E&P) busi-
The company’s net production, excluding ness had net income of $572mn in the third quar-
Libya, climbed to 351,000 barrels of oil equiva- ter, down from $723mn in the previous quarter,
lent per day in the third quarter, up from 265,000 but above the $178mn in the third quarter of
boepd a year earlier. 2021. Hess’s midstream segment had net income
The shale, offshore producer and midstream of $68mn in the third quarter of 2022, compared
company said that its net income was $515mn with net income of $61mn a year earlier.
in the quarter, down from $667mn in the sec- The company said its average realised crude
ond quarter of 2022 – when commodities prices oil selling price, not including hedges, was $93.95
were higher – but significantly up from $115mn per barrel, a rise from the $67.88 per barrel sell-
a year earlier. In fact, adjusted net income was ing price of a year earlier.
$583mn, far above the $86mn in the third quar- On October 26, Brent crude futures gained
ter of 2021. $2.17 to $95.69 per barrel, while West Texas
Oil prices have been higher and supplies Intermediate (WTI) was up $2.59 at $87.91.
tighter because of sanctions following Russia’s Global benchmark Brent has risen about 21% so
invasion of Ukraine. Supplies are also tighter far this year.
POLICY
US plans Gulf lease auction for March 2023
US THE Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Association’s president, Erik Milito. “Maintain-
(BOEM) will offer all as-yet unleased acreage ing lease sales is fundamental when it comes
in the US sector of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). to keeping energy flowing. We should never
The auction, to be held on March 29, is for oil have to depend upon foreign nations for energy
and natural gas drilling on the Outer Continen- when we have the premier, lower-carbon energy
tal Shelf (OCS). The sale is required under the region, which is the Gulf of Mexico.”
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). BOEM also issued a final environmental
Shortly after President Joe Biden took office impact statement for the upcoming Cook Inlet
in January 2021, he halted all such leases in fed- Lease Sale 258 in Alaska. BOEM, part of the US
eral waters and on federal lands, seeking to lessen Department of the Interior (DoI), is set to auc-
the country’s reliance on fossil fuels. tion roughly 1mn acres (4,047 square km) there
This new sale represents the first since the on December 30.
IRA was signed into law by Biden in mid-Au- Meanwhile, the State of Alaska is auctioning
gust. Moderate Democratic US Senator Joe unleased state land and state waters in the Arctic
Manchin supported the IRA on condition that it for oil drilling. The auction ends on November 3.
opened up oil and gas leasing again in the GOM The land, on the North Slope and in the Beaufort
and Alaska. Sea, is almost 8mn acres (32,375 square km).
The Senate is divided 50:50, so Manchin’s vote Energy companies have faced fewer land use
was crucial for the Democratic-led legislation. restrictions and more regulatory stability on
Opening bids for Lease Sale 259 are required state land and waters compared with federal, Jon
the day before the auction. Katchen, partner at Holland & Hart in Anchor-
“Almost all of American offshore oil and age, told Bloomberg Law.
gas production occurs in the Gulf of Mexico. Around 1.9mn acres (7,689 square km) of
The region is an economic engine that operates Alaska’s North Slope are so far leased by oil and
under world-class safety standards and pro- gas companies, as well as roughly 400,000 acres
duces among the lowest-carbon barrels of oil in (1,619 square km) in the Beaufort Sea, according
the world,” said the National Ocean Industries to state data.
Week 43 27•October•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7
