<article><p class="lead">Hess raised its 2019 capital expenditure (capex) budget versus this year, but the increase is within expectations as it funds major ongoing projects.</p><p>The plan for next year is set at $2.9bn versus $2.1bn expected for this year. In its third-quarter earnings, the US independent had flagged <a href="http://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/1783579">that spending was poised</a> to increase, averaging about $3bn annually out to 2025.</p><p>Output target for next year is set at 270,000-280,000 b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d), excluding Libya, compared with 245,000 boe/d expected this year, after factoring in asset sales. Hess is a key operator in the Bakken shale basin in North Dakota, where it expects production to rise to 135,000-145,000 boe/d from 115,000-120,000 boe/d targeted this year.</p><p>The company plans to operate six rigs in the Bakken in 2019 compared with an average of about 4.8 rigs this year. It has increased the count, adding a sixth rig in the fourth quarter of this year from five in the third. With those, it plans to drill 170 wells, up by 42pc from this year.</p><p>In its <a href="http://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/1804047">massive offshore Guyana</a> project, where it partners with operator ExxonMobil, 2019 will be the peak spending year for the Liza phase 1 development, on track for first oil by early 2020. Hess has set aside $260mn for Liza Phase 1, and another $310mn for Liza Phase 2.</p><p>The independent plans to spend $290mn in the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico, which will include the continued development of its Stampede field, where it is the operator with a 25pc stake.</p></article>
