Hess Corp. reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on July 31, benefiting from higher production at the U.S. oil and gas producer’s assets in the Bakken shale and Gulf of Mexico regions.

Production from shale oil fields, including North Dakota’s Bakken, has grown steadily over the last decade due to advances in oil well design and drilling, making the United States the world’s top crude producer.

Production rose about 23% to 140,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) from Bakken and about 38% to 65,000 boe/d from the Gulf of Mexico.

Total production, excluding Libya, rose to 273,000 boe/d from 247,000 boe/d.

Hess Corp. raised the lower end of its 2019 production forecast by 5,000 boe/d to 275,000 and left the top end unchanged at 280,000.

Net loss attributable to Hess narrowed to $6 million, or 2 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30 from $130 million, or 48 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, the company posted a loss of 9 cents per share, compared with the average analyst estimate of 11 cents, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.