Marathon Ramps Up Production on Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Droshky Development

Marathon Oil Corporation  provided an updateon its Droshky development in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, which began operations on time and under budget on July 15, 2010, and has since ramped up production to approximately 45,000 net barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), consisting of approximately 39,000 barrels per day of liquid hydrocarbons and 39 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Marathon owns a 100 percent working interest in Droshky.

The Droshky development consists of four wells tied back to the third-party Bullwinkle platform. Three of the four wells are currently producing at better-than-projected levels, while production from the fourth well has been delayed due to an equipment issue. Marathon plans to re-enter the fourth well in the first quarter of 2011 to make the necessary repairs.

“The Droshky field is performing well with good reservoir quality,” said Dave Roberts, Marathon’s executive vice president, Upstream.

“Droshky is a successful development that is contributing significant, profitable production and value to Marathon’s Upstream portfolio.”

The Company reiterated its previous Exploration and Production guidance for available for sale production in the third quarter of 2010 which remains unchanged at 385,000 to 405,000 net boepd, despite the slightly lower production from Droshky.

Marathon now expects Droshky to produce at a peak rate of approximately 45,000 net boepd – down from the original estimate of approximately 50,000 net boepd. The additional work on the fourth well is expected to add approximately $25 million to the total project cost.

Droshky is located in approximately 3,000 feet of water in Green Canyon Block 244, about 160 miles southwest of New Orleans.

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, Indonesia, Libya, Norway, Poland and the United Kingdom.

Marathon is the fourth largest United States-based integrated oil company and the nation’s fifth largest refiner.

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Source: Marathon, September 9, 2010: