Marathon Oil to Spin Off Refining, Marketing Business

Marathon Oil Corp., the largest refiner in the U.S.
Midwest, will spin off its fuel-making business,
creating two independent energy companies.
Marathon Petroleum Corp. will be the fifth-largest
independent refiner by capacity and will be based
in Findlay, Ohio, the company said in a statement
today. The spinoff is expected to be tax free and
effective June 30.
The announcement was made before the start of
regular trading on U.S. markets. Marathon, based
in Houston, rose $4.22, or 10 percent, to $44.75
at 7:30 a.m. in New York.
Marathon said after the spinoff it will be focused
on crude oil production and exploration. The
company considered the split in 2008, but
delayed it due to financial market turmoil and
lower commodities prices.
“The substantial improvement in the global
business and financial environments over the last
two years has created the conditions under
which we believe it is now appropriate to move
forward with the formation of two strong
independent energy companies, ” Clarence P.
Cazalot, Marathon’s chief executive officer, said in
the statement.
The spinoff will include the company’s refining
and marketing business, retail network and
pipelines. Marathon ’s exploration and production
arm will include oil-sands mining and integrated
gas.
(Marathon will hold a conference call for investors
at 11 a.m. New York time, accessible on their
website http://www.marathon.com)


Source: Http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-13/marathon-oil-to-spin-off-refining-marketing-business.html