[4][9] In 1938, he purchased land in Perth Amboy for his first oil storage terminal and in 1958 opened the company's first refinery, located in Port Reading.

Before the stockholder vote, Phillips Petroleum, an integrated oil firm, approached Amerada with its merger proposal, but the offer was declined in March 1969.

The voting took place amidst shareholder rancor that, in addition to echoing Adler's arguments, objected to Amerada's financing of the recently completed tender offer.

Proponents of the deal won and the $2.4 billion merger combining a pure production company with a refinery and marketer operation was completed.

To compensate, the company would expand its activities at its Virgin Islands and Mississippi locations, including an $18 million container port in St.

[23] In July 1988, Amerada Hess announced it would acquire Whitehall Ltd., a British oil and gas exploration company, from Pearson PLC for $160 million.

The deal included Whitehall's interests in the Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Waverley, Forties, Alba, and Anglia oil fields, as well as significant North Sea gas reserves.

[24] In September 1990, Amerada Hess acquired British Petroleum's stake in Norway's Brage oil field, which was due to start producing in 1994.

[29][30] In May, Hess announced it would sell nine United States oil and natural gas fields and use the expected $324 million in proceeds to pay off debt.

[35] Triton's major oil and gas assets in West Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia would strengthen its exploration and production business and provide access to long life international reserves.

Further, Amerada Hess cut exploration and production jobs by 30 percent and reduced office space in Aberdeen, Scotland, and London.

These included former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean, former Georgia senator Samuel A. Nunn, and Gregory Hill, the president of worldwide exploration and production for Hess.

[60] By the end of February 2013, and while Elliott waged its proxy fight, Hess permanently closed its Port Reading, New Jersey petroleum refinery.

Gas prices had risen to their highest levels since October 2012 and Hess said it would lay off 170 of 217 employees at the plant, exit the refinery business and look for a buyer for its 19 storage terminals.

[66] In July 2013, Hess agreed to sell its wholesale and retail oil, natural gas and electricity marketing business to Direct Energy.

[67][68] In October 2013, Hess Corp announced it would sell its East Coast and St. Lucia storage terminal network to Buckeye Partners LP for $850 million.

[71] Before completing the spin-off, Marathon Petroleum subsidiary Speedway LLC announced on May 22, 2014, that it would acquire the retail unit of Hess Corp for $2.87 billion.

[83][84] Since this would give Chevron control of Hess' 30% interest in the Guyana oil fields, Exxon protested and claimed to have a right of first refusal to acquire those assets.

[85] In March 2024, Exxon and CNOOC, the third partner in the offshore Stabroek block, filed arbitration cases with the International Chamber of Commerce to stop the deal.

[88] In September 2024, the Federal Trade Commission conditioned approval of the merger upon John B. Hess being prohibited from serving on the company's board due to his past communications with OPEC.

The company intends to improve its environmental impact through reporting results, increasing energy efficiency and recovery, and participating in carbon capture and trading.

[92] In August 1976, 600 gallons of oil seeped into the Arthur Kill and Raritan River when a barge heading to Hess' Perth Amboy facility struck a rock.

[95] Immediately, Hess assumed responsibility for the cleanup; the Coast Guard worked alongside the barge's owner to clean and contain the spill.

Coast Guard official Howard Holmes said that 70 percent of the spill would be gone in three days due to the natural evaporation rate of kerosene.

[98] Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill in March 1989, the State of Alaska sued Amerada Hess and the other operators of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company for damages done to the Prince William Sound and the region's fisheries-based economy.

[102] In a 2008 water contamination case against several major US oil companies, the Hess Corporation was forced to pay part of a $422 million settlement.

[105] In March 2021, Hess paid a fine for a Clean Water Act violation stemming from an October 2015 inspection at its Tioga gas plant.

[109] In December 2023, Hess Corporation was ordered to pay $150 million to hundreds of former St. Croix refinery workers and their families who were injured by asbestos exposure.

[117] Before the March 4, 2013 announcement of its withdrawal from refining and retail sales of petroleum products, Hess operated gas stations in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

In May 2014, Speedway LLC, a subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum Company, announced it would purchase Hess Corporation's retail business for $2.6 billion.