Hess to Increase Capital Spending by 21 Percent

NEW YORK -- Hess Corp. will ramp up its capital expenditures by 21 percent this year in an effort to find and produce new sources of petroleum. According to a company news release, the organization will spend nearly all of its $6.8 billion capital and exploratory budget on exploration and production.

"We believe that the investments we are making in unconventionals are lower risk and will generate long-term profitable growth for shareholders," said John B. Hess, the petroleum company's chairman and CEO. "We expect to fund the majority of our 2012 program from internally generated cash flow and asset sales."

According to Bloomberg Business Week, Hess earmarked $5.6 billion for exploration and production. Among the monies to be spent this year include approximately $2.5 billion on development of the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and drilling appraisal wells in the Eagle Ford Shale and the Utica Shale in Ohio.

Another roughly $800 million will spent abroad to drill exploration wells in Ghana, Indonesia and deepwater Gulf of Mexico, Hess stated.

"Our focus in 2012 will be on execution," Greg Hill, Hess' president of worldwide exploration and production, stated in the news release. "We are committed to creating value and delivering sustainable growth in production and reserves from both our unconventional and conventional portfolios."

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