Hess 3Q Profit Tumbles 56 Pct On Weakened Prices

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil and gas company Hess Corp. on Wednesday said its third-quarter profit tumbled 56 percent, driven by lower oil and gas prices and narrower margins, but earnings still exceeded analyst expectations.

Compared with a year ago when crude prices were trading at record levels as high as $147.27 per barrel, the most-recent quarter was defined by stabilizing oil prices between $59 and $74 per barrel, still well below last year's prices.

Natural-gas prices reached close to $14 per 1,000 cubic feet in the third quarter of last year. In the third quarter of 2009, prices hovered at lows near $2.50 per 1,000 cubic feet and highs near $5 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Hess recognized an average worldwide crude price of $56.07 per barrel in the most-recent quarter, compared with $93.36 per barrel in the same period last year. The company's average natural-gas price was $4.60 per 1,000 cubic feet, down from $7.60 per 1,000 cubic feet last year.

Lower prices hurt margins for the New York company's exploration and production segment and its marketing and refining segment.

Earnings including items fell to $341 million, or $1.05 per share, from $775 million, or $2.37 per share, last year. Excluding items, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted an average profit of 55 cents per share.

Revenue fell 35 percent to $7.38 billion, from $11.39 billion last year.

Hess shares dropped 70 cents to $57.11 in morning trading.