Hess Announces Ghana Drilling Results

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) announced today it has completed drilling of its seventh consecutive successful exploratory well on the Deepwater Tano/Cape Three Points block offshore Ghana. The Pecan North-1 well, located approximately seven miles northeast of the Pecan-1 well, encountered approximately 40 feet of net oil pay in Turonian aged reservoir.

The results of the seven wells are as follows:

Well Name	Net Feet of Pay	Hydrocarbon Type	Water Depth
Paradise-1	415	Oil and gas condensate	6,040 feet
Hickory North-1	98	Gas condensate	6,455 feet
Beech-1	146	Oil	5,623 feet
Almond-1	53	Oil	7,251 feet
Pecan-1	245	Oil	8,245 feet
Cob-1	31	Oil	6,330 feet
Pecan North-1	40	Oil	7,411 feet

The wells were drilled by the Stena Drillmax drillship in a range of water depths between 5,623 and 8,245 feet. Hess achieved outstanding drilling performance in terms of drilling time and cost per foot with gross costs averaging $40 million per well for the last three wells, including success case logging.

Based on the results of these wells and Hess’ extensive experience in Equatorial Guinea, where the geology is quite similar, the company now plans to submit appraisal plans for the various discoveries to the Ghanaian Government for approval on or before June 2, 2013. In parallel, Hess has begun pre-development studies on the block.

Hess holds a 90 percent working interest in the block and is the operator. GNPC is a 10 percent equity interest partner and is carried through to the production phase of the license.

Hess Corporation is a leading global independent energy company primarily engaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, and the marketing of refined petroleum products, natural gas and electricity. More information on Hess Corporation is available at http://www.hess.com.

Cautionary Statements

This news release contains projections and other forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These projections and statements reflect the company’s current views with respect to future events and financial performance. No assurances can be given, however, that these events will occur or that these projections will be achieved, and actual results could differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risk factors. A discussion of these risk factors is included in the company’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.