Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

3. Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment at December 31 were as follows:


	2020		2019

	(In millions)
Exploration and Production
Unproved properties	$	164	$	168
Proved properties	2,930		3,304
Wells, equipment and related facilities	23,224		28,404
	26,318		31,876
Midstream	4,163		3,904
Corporate and Other	38		40
Total — at cost	30,519		35,820
Less: Reserves for depreciation, depletion, amortization and lease impairment	16,404		19,006
Property, Plant and Equipment — Net	$	14,115	$	16,814

Capitalized Exploratory Well Costs: The following table discloses the amount of capitalized exploratory well costs pending determination of proved reserves at December 31 and the changes therein during the respective years:


	2020		2019		2018

	(In millions)
Balance at January 1	$	584	$	418	$	304
Additions to capitalized exploratory well costs pending the determination of proved reserves	111		224		128
Reclassifications to wells, facilities and equipment based on the determination of proved reserves	(111)		(58)		—
Capitalized exploratory well costs charged to expense	(125)		—		(14)

Balance at December 31	$	459	$	584	$	418
Number of Wells at December 31	22		31		24

During the three years ended December 31, 2020, additions to capitalized exploratory well costs primarily related to drilling at the Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana. Other drilling activity included the Esox prospect in the Gulf of Mexico during 2019 and the Bunga prospect in the North Malay Basin, offshore Peninsular Malaysia during 2018.

Reclassifications to wells, facilities and equipment based on the determination of proved reserves in 2020 resulted from sanctions of the Payara Field development on the Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana, and an additional phase of development at the North Malay Basin, offshore Peninsular Malaysia. In 2019, reclassifications to wells, facilities and equipment resulted from sanction of the Liza Phase 2 development on the Stabroek Block and the Esox tieback well to the Tubular Bells Field in the Gulf of Mexico.

Capitalized exploratory well costs charged to expense in 2020 included $125 million, primarily related to the northern portion of the Shenzi Field (Hess 28%) in the Gulf of Mexico due to reprioritization of our forward capital program in response to the significant decline in crude oil prices. In 2018, in Canada, offshore Nova Scotia (Hess 50% participating interest), the operator, BP Canada, completed drilling of the Aspy exploration well, which did not encounter commercial quantities of hydrocarbons. As a result, we expensed well costs totaling $120 million in 2018, of which $14 million was incurred in 2017. The preceding table excludes well costs incurred and expensed during 2020 of $67 million (2019: $49 million; 2018: $151 million).

Exploratory well costs capitalized for greater than one year following completion of drilling were $342 million at December 31, 2020, separated by year of completion as follows (in millions):


2019	$	173
2018	105
2017	27
2016	—
2015	37
	$	342

Guyana: Approximately 85% of the capitalized well costs in excess of one year relate to successful exploration wells where hydrocarbons were encountered on the Stabroek Block (Hess 30%), offshore Guyana. The operator plans further appraisal drilling and is conducting pre-development planning for additional phases of development beyond the three previously sanctioned development projects on the Block.

JDA: Approximately 10% of the capitalized well costs in excess of one year relates to the JDA (Hess 50%) in the Gulf of Thailand, where hydrocarbons were encountered in three successful exploration wells drilled in the western part of Block A-18. The operator has submitted a development plan concept to the regulator to facilitate ongoing commercial negotiations for an extension of the existing gas sales contract to include development of the western part of the Block.

Malaysia: Approximately 5% of the capitalized well costs in excess of one year relates to North Malay Basin (Hess 50%), offshore Peninsular Malaysia, where hydrocarbons were encountered in one successful exploration well. Subsurface evaluation and pre-development studies for future phases of development are ongoing.