Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) announced today it has completed the sale
of 100 percent of its Russian subsidiary Samara-Nafta to OAO LUKOIL for
a total consideration of $2.05 billion. Including working capital and
other adjustments, total after tax proceeds to Hess based on its 90
percent interest in Samara-Nafta were approximately $1.9 billion.
Hess’ total year-to-date proceeds from completed and announced asset
sales amount to approximately $3.5 billion. As previously announced, the
Company is applying these proceeds to repay outstanding short-term debt
and strengthen its balance sheet, providing the financial flexibility to
fund future growth.
The Company is also currently engaged in separate processes to divest
its exploration and production assets in Indonesia and Thailand, as well
as its remaining downstream businesses, including terminals, retail,
energy marketing and trading. Most of the proceeds from these additional
sales will be used to return capital directly to shareholders. Hess
anticipates that it will begin to repurchase shares under its existing
$4 billion authorization in the second half of this year.
Hess Corporation is a leading global independent energy company
primarily engaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and
natural gas. 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.
