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Is the Traditional Formula Pension Plan in jeopardy of being discontinued in the future?

We have no plans to do so. We conducted a thorough analysis and are satisfied with the decision to leave the plan in place without making any changes. However, as with all benefit plans, Hess reserves the right to change, amend or terminate the Pension Plan in the future.

What happens if I’m an expat and localize into the U.S. after January 1, 2017?

Employees with a Hess hire date prior to December 31, 2016, coverage who localize on or after January 1, 2017, will participate in the Traditional Formula Pension Plan.

Can I receive a lump-sum payment when I leave the company or retire?

No, a lump-sum payment is not available with the Traditional Formula Pension Plan. For more on your payment options, please see the Understand Your Payment Options section here.

What happens if I leave, decide to come back and get rehired?

If you leave and return to Hess on or after January 1, 2017, your pension benefit would be based on the Cash Accumulation Formula. You may have also earned a pension benefit under the Traditional Formula.

How do I know how much I might earn by retirement?

Go to the Hess Benefits Center at Fidelity and use the online pension calculator. You can change different variables, such as when you take the benefit, form of payment and how much, if any, you wish to leave for a loved one.

Are any changes being made to the current Traditional Formula Pension Plan?

No changes are being made to the Traditional Formula Pension Plan for employees hired before January 1, 2017.

Traditional Formula Pension Plan

Can I change to the Cash Accumulation Formula?

No. We considered that approach, but our analysis showed that very few, if any, employees hired before January 1, 2017, would benefit from the new plan (and no one would after a relatively short time) and there may be legal risk should someone make a poor choice that could not be reversed later.

Why didn’t we move everyone into the new plan?

Hess wanted to honor the commitment we made to you when you joined the company and preserve the benefit.

Why was the Hess Cash Accumulation Formula Pension Plan introduced?

As it has for all company practices, the Board of Directors initiated a thorough review of all U.S. benefits programs to be sure that they are appropriate now that we are a much smaller, E&P company. We considered value to employees, attractiveness to recruits and cost.

Our analysis showed that our peers, and many companies outside of our industry, have moved away from traditional final average pay pension plans like ours to plans that are similar to the Hess Cash Accumulation Formula Pension Plan. Also known as cash balance pension plans, these plans are typically easy to understand because the earned value is visible from day one and the money can be taken with you when you leave the company. Offering this new formula to employees hired on or after January 1, 2017, will save millions of dollars over time. More importantly, it positions Hess to reaffirm and strengthen its commitment to existing employees (hired before January 1, 2017) to provide a pension benefit based on the Traditional Formula while providing a sustainable pension benefit to new and future employees (hired on or after January 1, 2017) under the Cash Accumulation Formula.