Marathon Oil Provides Information On Divestitures And Acquisitions

HOUSTON, Oct. 24, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) is providing additional information on completed, announced and potential divestitures and acquisitions.

As previously announced, Marathon Oil anticipates divestitures of $1.5 billion to $3 billion over the period of 2011 through 2013 in an ongoing effort to optimize the Company's portfolio for profitable growth. To date, the Company has entered into agreements for approximately $1.1 billion in divestitures, of which more than $700 million have been completed.

Included in the $1.1 billion noted above is the pending sale of the Company's Alaska Cook Inlet assets for $375 million, subject to purchase price adjustments. This transaction is currently under review by the Federal Trade Commission and the Alaska Attorney General's office, which could impact the closing of this transaction.

In addition to these efforts, Marathon Oil has engaged in discussions with respect to a potential sale of a portion of the Company's 20 percent outside-operated interest in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project in Alberta, Canada. Given the uncertainty of such a transaction, potential proceeds have not been included in the Company's guidance of $1.5 billion to $3 billion in divestitures.

After making a substantial investment in the South Texas Eagle Ford resource play in 2011, Marathon Oil has acquired or reached agreements in principle to acquire almost 25,000 additional net acres in the core of the play at an approximate cost of $1 billion so far in 2012. The two major transactions were the acquisition of Paloma Partners II LLC, whereby the Company acquired over 17,100 net acres at a cost of $750 million, and a pending acquisition of approximately 4,300 net acres for a currently estimated $227 million, both excluding purchase price adjustments. The Paloma acquisition closed in August, while the pending transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter 2012. The acreage in the pending acquisition overlaps Marathon Oil operated acreage, is currently producing 2,900 net barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOED) and will add 40 net drilling locations to Marathon Oil's inventory.

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