-=Marathon Oil (MRO) reported earnings on Wed 14 Feb 2018 (a/h)

Marathon Oil beats by $0.05, beats on revs 

• Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.07 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better thanthe Capital IQ Consensus of $0.02; revenues rose 23.0% year/year to $1.38 bln vs the $1.25 bln Capital IQ Consensus.

Q4 highlights:

• Total Company production excluding Libya averaged 383,000 net boed, up 4% sequentially on a divestiture-adjusted basis; 33,000 net boed from Libya
• U.S. resource play production averaged 249,000 net boed, up 10% sequentially
• Eagle Ford production averaged 105,000 net boed; up 4% sequentially with fewer wells to sales
• Bakken production increased 17% sequentially to 69,000 net boed; set new Williston Basin 30-day IP oil record at 3,005 bpd
• Oklahoma production up 10% sequentially to 64,000 net boed; nine-well STACK infill development averaged 30-day IP rates of 1,840 boed (60% oil)
• Northern Delaware production averaged 11,000 net boed; two-well pad averaged 30-day IP rates of 3,265 boed (62% oil)

2018 Production Guidance:

• For full year 2018, the co forecasts total production available for sale, excluding Libya, to average 390,000 to 410,000 net barrels of oil equivalentper day (boed), up 12 percent at the midpointcompared to 2017 on a divestiture-adjusted basis
• Total annual oil production available for sale, excluding Libya, is expected to increase about 18 percent at the midpoint on a divestiture-adjusted basis, driven by 20 - 25 percent annual oil growth in the U.S. resource plays
• For first quarter 2018, U.S. production is expected to average 265,000 to 275,000 net boed. International production, excluding Libya, is expected to average 105,000 to 115,000 net boed, which reflects planned turnaround activity in EG.