Marathon Posts $407M Loss, Sees Oil Production Decline

Marathon Oil Corp on Wednesday reported a loss of almost $407 million over the first quarter, representing the first time since 2002 that the company’s quarterly revenue has fallen below the $1-billion threshold.

The losses are mounting for Marathon. In fact, this quarterly loss is the sixth in a row it has reported since oil prices began to slide in mid-2014.

The company said its revenues fell to $730 million from $1.5 in the same period last year, missing analysts’ projections, and reaching down to $903.3 million for the first quarter.

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In total, Marathon reported a loss of $407 million, or 56 cents a share, compared with a loss of $276 million, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding a pension settlement and other items, the loss from continuing operations was 43 cents a share, compared with a year-ago loss of 37 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected a loss of 46 cents a share.

As the figures were about to be released, the company’s shares were sliding by 5.04 percent to $12.15 in mid-day trading on Wednesday.

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In order to sustain its financial position, the company had had to cut production, spending and sold more than $1 billion in stock. Marathon is also selling what it deems non-core assets as it seeks to focus on "lower risk, higher return U.S. resource plays."

As a consequence, exploration expenses dropped to $24 million from $90 million a year earlier, while total costs declined 30 percent to $1.33 billion. Sales volume fell 14 percent, while net production available for sale also fell 14 percent.

Marathon ended the quarter with about $5.4 billion in liquidity, including $2.1 billion in cash and $3.3 billion in available credit.

By Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com

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