July 31 (Reuters) - Hess Corp ( HES ) beat estimates for

second-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by sharply higher oil

production in Guyana and stronger prices.

The South American country and its lucrative oil assets are

at the center of a dispute between Hess, Chevron ( CVX ) and

Exxon.

Last October, Hess agreed to sell itself to Chevron ( CVX ) for $53

billion in stock, but the deal has been stalled by a regulatory

review and challenged by Exxon, which claims a right to Hess's

Guyana assets.

Hess's production rose 27.6% to 494,000 barrels of oil and

gas per day (boepd), on nearly 75% year-over-year increase in

Guyana to 192,000 bpd. Its Bakken shale output also rose, the

company said.

It, however, expects a fall in current-quarter production

due to planned downtime in Guyana and Southeast Asia.

Third-quarter net production is expected to be in the range of

460,000 boepd to 470,000 boepd.

Hess said it expects its Guyana output to fall 10% as a

natural gas pipeline is connected this quarter, and expects its

North Dakota output to drop 4.5% on planned maintenance.

The company's average realized crude oil selling price

also rose nearly 13% to $80.29 per barrel in the second quarter.

A three-person arbitration panel is expected to decide

on

the dispute with Exxon. Exxon believes the process could

extend to 2025 while both Chevron ( CVX ) and Hess expect a resolution

by the end of the year.

Hess' quarterly profit of $2.62 per share beat analysts'

average estimate of $2.48 per share, according to LSEG data.

(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil

D'Silva and Maju Samuel)