HOUSTON, April 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) today announced the completion of the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary, Marathon Oil Ireland Limited (MOIL) to PSE Ireland Limited, a subsidiary of Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas). The transaction has a total value of $180 million with an effective date of Dec. 31, 2007. This sale does not include Marathon's 18.5 percent interest in the Corrib natural gas development.
Including this transaction, Marathon has completed approximately $1.3 billion of the anticipated $2 to $4 billion in asset sales announced in March 2008. The Company expects further announcements related to this asset review and disposal program by mid-year 2009.
Under the terms of the sale, PSE Ireland Limited acquired Marathon's 100 percent operated interest in the Kinsale Head Area comprising Kinsale Head, South West Kinsale and the Ballycotton gas fields, as well as an 86.5 percent interest in the gas producing Seven Heads field which is tied back to Kinsale, and a 100 percent interest in the Company's gas storage business with current capacity of 7 billion cubic feet. As part of the transaction PSE Ireland Limited retains the 61 MOIL employees in Ireland.
Net production from these operations averaged approximately 30 million cubic feet of natural gas per day for the first quarter of 2009. Marathon's total net risked resource associated with these assets as of year-end 2007 was 62 billion cubic feet (bcf) of which 46.2 bcf (7.7 million barrels of oil equivalent) were net proved reserves.
Marathon is an integrated international energy company engaged in exploration and production; oil sands mining; integrated gas; and refining, marketing and transportation operations. Marathon, which is based in Houston, has principal operations in the United States, Angola, Canada, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Indonesia, Ireland, Libya, Norway and the United Kingdom. Marathon is the fourth largest United States-based integrated oil company and the nation's fifth largest refiner. For more information, please visit our Web site at http://www.marathon.com.
Media Relations Contacts:
Lee Warren 713-296-4103
Leslie Hiltabrand 713-296-4102
Investor Relations Contacts:
Howard Thill 713-296-4140
Chris Phillips 713-296-3213
This release contains forward-looking statements with respect to the goal of achieving $2 - $4 billion from asset dispositions. Some factors that could potentially affect the projected asset dispositions include changes in prices of and demand for crude oil, natural gas and refined products, actions of competitors, future financial condition and operating results, and economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory factors affecting the Company's businesses. The foregoing factors (among others) could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. In accordance with the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Marathon Oil Corporation has included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, cautionary language identifying other important factors, though not necessarily all such factors, that could cause future outcomes to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors: The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proved reserves that a company has demonstrated by actual production or conclusive formation tests to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions. Marathon Oil Corporation uses certain terms in this press release, such as net risked resource, that the SEC's guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in filings with the SEC. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosures in Marathon's periodic filings with the SEC, available from us at 5555 San Felipe, Houston, Texas 77056 and the Company's Web site at http://www.Marathon.com. You can also obtain this information from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.
SOURCE Marathon Oil Corporation
