Hess Corp. executives see the Bakken Shale continuing to drive significant cash flow for almost another decade, despite a moratorium on federal oil and natural gas leasing by the Biden administration.

Hess production

CEO John Hess told investors on Wednesday only 2% of the company’s Bakken acreage is on federal lands. The exploration and production (E&P) company is set to double the number of rigs operating in the North Dakota play to two by the end of March and ultimately would “like to get the rig count to four,” he said on the fourth quarter 2020 earnings call.

“By getting the rig count to four, we not only generate a significant amount of cash flow, but will also be able to hold production in the Bakken broadly flat at around 200,000 boe/d for almost 10 years,” the CEO...