NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hess Corp said on Sunday it would begin to cut rates at its 70,000 barrel per day refinery in Port Reading, New Jersey, at 6 p.m. EDT ahead of Hurricane Sandy.

"We are taking the necessary steps to prepare our Port Reading, N.J. refinery for high winds and storm water," a company spokesperson said.

Port Reading is located on a spit of land reaching up into the southern edge of New York Harbor.

(Reporting by Janet McGurty)