HOUSTON, April 14 - Integrated oil and gas producer Marathon Oil Corp (MRO.N) said on Tuesday its first-quarter output would top its forecast, but that prices for oil and gas fell sharply from a year earlier.
Oil and gas available for sale during the first quarter would be about 429,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, 7 percent above the fourth quarter and higher than the 400,000 to 415,000 BOE the company had predicted.
First-quarter output was boosted by Marathon's Alvheim oil development in Norway and its natural gas complex in Equatorial Guinea, the company said.
Marathon's refineries ran at 86 percent of capacity in the first two months of the quarter, down from the 94 percent in the fourth quarter but slightly above the year-earlier 83 percent.
But the company will be hit by the drop in energy prices, with its liquids prices down by more than 50 percent from a year earlier, U.S. gas prices down by 30 percent and international gas prices down by 15 percent.
The Houston company estimates its refined products sales volume will average about 1.285 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter of 2009 compared to 1.279 million bpd in the first quarter of 2008.
First quarter 2009 refining and wholesale marketing gross margin will improve to about 8 cents per gallon, compared with a slightly negative margin a year earlier, Marathon said.
Prior to Marathon's interim report, analysts on average had expected a profit of 42 cents a share, down from $1.07 a year earlier, according to Reuters Estimates.
Energy research firm and investment bank Simmons & Co Int'l characterized the results as "reasonably good" in a note to clients and said Wall Street estimates would likely move a bit higher.
Shares of Marathon rose 19 cents to $29.04 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange, outperforming a 1 percent decline in the Chicago Board Options Exchange index of oil companies .OIX.
Oil and gas available for sale during the first quarter would be about 429,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, 7 percent above the fourth quarter and higher than the 400,000 to 415,000 BOE the company had predicted.
First-quarter output was boosted by Marathon's Alvheim oil development in Norway and its natural gas complex in Equatorial Guinea, the company said.
Marathon's refineries ran at 86 percent of capacity in the first two months of the quarter, down from the 94 percent in the fourth quarter but slightly above the year-earlier 83 percent.
But the company will be hit by the drop in energy prices, with its liquids prices down by more than 50 percent from a year earlier, U.S. gas prices down by 30 percent and international gas prices down by 15 percent.
The Houston company estimates its refined products sales volume will average about 1.285 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter of 2009 compared to 1.279 million bpd in the first quarter of 2008.
First quarter 2009 refining and wholesale marketing gross margin will improve to about 8 cents per gallon, compared with a slightly negative margin a year earlier, Marathon said.
Prior to Marathon's interim report, analysts on average had expected a profit of 42 cents a share, down from $1.07 a year earlier, according to Reuters Estimates.
Energy research firm and investment bank Simmons & Co Int'l characterized the results as "reasonably good" in a note to clients and said Wall Street estimates would likely move a bit higher.
Shares of Marathon rose 19 cents to $29.04 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange, outperforming a 1 percent decline in the Chicago Board Options Exchange index of oil companies .OIX.
