Marathon Oil Corp. | Gas Production 4th Quarter Down

Marathon Oil Corp. said Tuesday its oil and natural gas production in the fourth quarter was likely at the low end of its previous guidance range, in part from pipeline issues overseas and continued disruptions linked to last summer's hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Houston-based company estimated its liquid hydrocarbon and natural gas production available for sale during October-December period was around 401,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, at the bottom of a previous forecast between 400,000 and 440,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.Marathon provided an overview of market conditions for the October-December period as all major oil companies prepare to report earnings for the fourth quarter.After peaking above $147 a barrel in July, oil prices spent the remainder of 2008 falling fast. When the fourth quarter began Oct. 1, crude was trading at around $100 a barrel. Three months later, on Dec. 31, it settled at $44.60. [Read the full article]

Yesterday, Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO) provided a weaker-than-expected fourth quarter 2008 interim update (covering the first two months of the quarter). While weak commodity-price realizations were built into estimates and were expected to be the primary reason for negative comparisons with previous results, Marathon's results will also be affected by upstream production shortfalls. We expect that yesterday's guidance will prompt downward earnings revisions. The company reports fourth-quarter 2008 results on February 3, 2009. Marathon expects fourth-quarter production of oil and natural gas to average 415,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day (BOE/d), which is below the company's guidance for the quarter. Approximately two-thirds of Marathon's production comes from outside the U.S. [Read the full article]

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(MARKET WIRE)--Jan 14, 2009 -- InterOil Corporation (AMEX: IOC) today announced the appointment of Mr. Wayne Andrews as Vice President of Capital Markets. Mr. Andrews joins InterOil from Raymond James and Associates Inc., where he was Managing Director of Exploration & Production Equity Research. Focusing on the oil and natural gas industry, Wayne Andrews joined Raymond James in 1996 after spending three years as natural gas analyst at Schroder Wertheim. Prior to joining Schroder's he was the Vice President and Director of Research at John S. Herold Inc, a petroleum research and consulting firm. He also spent five years as a senior geophysicist
at Sun Company and Oryx Energy. Mr. Andrews has been recognized
in the Reuters Survey of the top analysts, the StartMine Top Analyst Survey and the Wall Street Journal Best on the Street Survey. Mr. [Read the full article]

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tesoro Corporation (NYSE:TSO) announced today that it expects fourth quarter 2008 earnings per share in the range of $0.60 to $0.75 per share, which includes net one-time adjustments of approximately $(0.29) per share. The one-time adjustments, using a marginal tax rate of 38%, include a $(0.41) per share after-tax accrual for doubtful accounts receivable, partially offset by an accrual reversal of $0.12 per share after-tax following a reduction in estimated costs associated with asset retirement obligations. In the course of our review of accounts receivable, we identified one material account as to which collection in the ordinary course of business was deemed to be unlikely. [Read the full article]


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Conclusion:

Reasons 4th quarter gas production is down for Marathon Oil Corp. is largely due to ongoing disruptions from Gulf of Mexico hurricanes and overseas pipeline challenges.