Jan 29 (Reuters) - Oil and gas producer Hess Corp's ( HES )

fourth-quarter profit surpassed Wall Street expectations

on Wednesday, buoyed by higher production volumes in the United

States and Guyana.

Its total production rose over 18% to 495,000 barrels of oil

equivalent per day (boepd) in the quarter, boosted by a 7%

increase in volumes in the Bakken shale in the U.S and a 52%

jump in output from its Guyana assets.

But the lucrative oil properties in Guyana have posed a

hurdle to Chevron's ( CVX ) $53 billion acquisition of Hess,

after other oil majors Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) and CNOOC

filed an arbitration challenge over their stakes in the block.

Production from Hess' Guyana assets jumped to 195,000

barrels of oil per day (bpd) in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31

from 128,000 bpd a year earlier.

A three-judge arbitration panel is set to consider Exxon's

right to first refusal in May.

The deal has, however, cleared a U.S. Federal Trade

Commission review.

Hess' net profit for the October-December quarter came in at

$542 million, compared with the $413 million it earned during

the same period a year earlier.

New York-based Hess posted an adjusted profit of $1.76 per

share, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.48,

according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company said it expects current quarter net production

in the range of 465,000 to 475,000 boepd, and added that it

estimates capital and exploratory expenditures of about $4.5

billion in 2025.

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by

Shinjini Ganguli)