Marathon Oil ramping up Oklahoma, Bakken activity
Feb 15 (Reuters) – Marathon Oil Corp, a U.S. shale exploration company, on Wednesday doubled its projected capital spending for the full year, as crude prices stabilize following a two-year rout.
The company, which reported a smaller-than-expected wider fourth-quarter loss on Wednesday, expects to spend more as it ramps up activity in Oklahoma and the Bakken Shale formation.
Oil producers are betting big on a continued rise in crude prices by buying up acreage and raising capital spending.
Marathon said it plans to spend about $2.2 billion this year, or roughly double the $1.1 billion it spent in 2016.
Industry peers Exxon Mobil, Chevron Corp and Hess Corp also boosted their capital budgets for the year.
Marathon’s net loss widened to $1.37 billion, or $1.62 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $793 million, or $1.17 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company posted a loss of 10 cents per share, lower than analysts’ average estimate for a loss of 15 cents.
Revenue fell 5.8 percent to $1.39 billion, above the Street’s estimate of $1.19 billion.
Marathon shares ended down 0.67 percent at $16.30 in regular Thursday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru, editing by G Crosse)
