Hess Corp reported a surprise profit on Thursday, supported by higher production at the U.S. oil and gas producer's oilfields in the Bakken shale and Gulf of Mexico regions.
The company said production from Bakken rose 17 percent to 130,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), while output from its offshore Gulf of Mexico operations rose nearly 71 percent to 70,000 boe/d.
Shale production in major U.S. shale basins, including North Dakota's Bakken, has seen a steady rise, with the country becoming the world's top crude producer.
The New York-based company's total oil and gas production, excluding Libya, rose to 278,000 boe/d from 233,000 boe/d.
Net income attributable to Hess was $32 million, or 9 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $106 million, or 38 cents per share, a year earlier.
Analysts on average had expected the company to report a loss of 25 cents per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Revenue rose 15 percent to $1.60 billion, beating estimates of $1.50 billion.
(Reporting by Debroop Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by James Emmanuel)
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