Description
Hess Corporation (formerly Amerada Hess Corporation) is an American global independent energy company engaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. It was formed by the merger of Hess Oil and Chemical and Amerada Petroleum in 1968 led by Leon Hess. In 1995, his son John B Hess succeeded him as chairman and CEO. Hess, headquartered in New York City, placed #394 in the 2016 list of Fortune 500 corporations. In 2014, Hess completed a multi-year transformation to an exploration and production company by exiting all downstream operations, generating approximately $13 billion from assets sales beginning in 2013. Hess sold its gas station network to Marathon Petroleum (which operates under the retail brand Speedway); sold its wholesale and retail oil, natural gas and electricity marketing business to Direct Energy; closed its refineries in Port Reading NJ and St. Croix USVI (Hovensa JV with PDVSA); sold its bulk storage and terminalling business mostly to Buckeye Partners; and sold its 50% interests in two New Jersey power plants to their respective JV partners (Bayonne Energy Center: ArcLight Capital and Newark Energy Center: Ares EIF). Hess also sold its 50% interest in its JV commodities trading arm HETCO (Hess Energy Trading Company) to Oaktree Capital. HETCO is now known as Hartree Partners.