July 31 (Reuters) - Hess Corp beat estimates for second-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by higher oil production in Guyana.

The South American country and its lucrative oil assets are at the center of a dispute between Hess, Chevron and Exxon.

Last October, Hess agreed to sell itself to Chevron 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.

A three-person arbitration panel is expected to decide on the issue. Exxon believes the dispute could extend to 2025 while both Chevron and Hess expect a resolution by the end of the year.

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.

Hess owns 30% of Guyana's giant Stabroek block operated by Exxon, which owns 45%. China's CNOOC Ltd holds the remaining 25%.

Hess expects current quarter net production in the range of 460,000 boepd to 470,000 boepd, primarily reflecting planned downtime in Guyana and Southeast Asia.

The company's average realized crude oil selling price was $80.29 per barrel in the second quarter, compared with $71.13 per barrel last year.

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)