Marathon Operations in Iraq

=History=

Marathon pre-qualified to participate in the central government's second licensing round in 2009, but eventually decided not to bid. Hence contracts signed with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in 2010 marked the beginning of Marathon's operations in Iraq.

=Activities and Contracts=

In 2010 Marathon acquired a position in four exploration blocks in Kurdistan in October 2010, under the framework of production sharing contracts (PSCs) signed directly with the KRG. These were the Harir (approximately 78,000 net acres) and Safen (approximately 47,000 net acres) blocks, located north-east of Erbil, the Atrush block and Sarsang block, located north-north west of Erbil.

Harir and Safen
Marathon became the operator at the Harir and Safen blocks, while the KRG held a 20% interest. However in July 2012 the company agreed to "farm down" these two blocks, reducing their stake to 45%. This was to make way for French oil major Total's entry into the region. As of 2012 the company remained the operator of the Harir block and the exploration operator of the Safen block. The first exploration well on the Harir block began drilling in July 2012 and the first exploration well on the Safen block is planned for the first half of 2013.

Atrush
Marathon took a 20% working interest in the Atrush block. The remaining 80% was taken by joint-venture company General Exploration Partners (GEP). . However in December 2012 GEP sold 53.2% of its interest in the block to Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA). In April 2011 Marathon announced the discovery of oil at the Atrush site.

Sarsang
At Sarsang the company has a 25% working interest.

=References=