Hess Corp, which sold off fueling stations and refineries to focus on production, reported its second consecutive quarterly loss after crude prices fell.
The second-quarter loss was $567 million or $1.99 a share, compared with net income of $931 million, or $2.96 a year earlier, New York-based Hess said in a statement.
The loss came as the company pumped more oil to make up for crude prices that fell 44% from a year earlier. Output rose 23%, led by North Dakota’s Bakken Shale where production was up a 49% to the equivalent of 119,000 barrels of oil a day.
Excluding one-time items, the loss was 52 cents, less than the 71 cent average of 21 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Total production rose to 391,000 barrels a day, beating the highest analyst estimate of 361,600 barrels a day.
Hess also sold a half interest in operations that include a gas-processing plant, a crude rail terminal and rail cars to Global Infrastructure Partners for $3billion in a deal that closed July 1.
One-time items for the quarter included a $385 million writedown on the value of onshore US assets. Capital and exploratory spending fell 15% from a year earlier to $1.07billion as the company reduced drilling.
“We achieved strong operating performance in the quarter and delivered significant and immediate value to our shareholders with the sale of a 50 percent interest in our Bakken midstream assets,” chief executive John Hess said in the statement.