Marathon Oil Corporation

= Global Snapshot =

Marathon Oil Company is a Houston-based international energy company engaged in exploration and production, oil sands mining and integrated gas. Its worldwide production operations are focused in North America, Africa and Europe.

The company's origins lie in the purchase of the Ohio Oil Company by John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust in 1889, but the company resumed independent production following its dissolution in 1911. The Ohio changed its name to the Marathon Oil Company in 1962 in honour of its brand name motor fuel. Having been bought out by United States Steel in 1982, the steel business was finally sold off in 2001. In May of 2011, Marathon's Board approved the spin-off of its downstream business, Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

At the end of 2011 Marathon had proven reserves of 1.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe). As of 2012 Marathon was developing strategic growth assets in US unconventional liquid-rich plays and deepwater Angola. Production in these assets was expected to grow at a 25% annual growth rate through until 2015, with liquids accounting for around 70% of the mix.

Company Report Highlights
Marathon's Annual Report for 2010 reveals that net income of $2.6 billion was 76% higher than 2009 figures. In the Exploration and Production (E&P) segment, oil and natural gas sales were slightly down on 2009 results, partly due to disappointment at the Gulf of Mexico Droshky development. Net proven reserves for oil and gas producing activities fell slightly by 3.9% on 2009 levels to 1,638 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).

Other highlights for the year included full operational capacity being reached at the expanded Garyville refinery in Louisiana and the launch of operations at the Athabasca Oil Sands Mining expansion. Over the course of 2010, Marathon also acquired four blocks in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, where two exploration wells had been established. Largely because of low US natural gas prices, they reduced their current drilling for gas with a renewed focus on liquids.

=Official Accreditations and Global Perceptions=

EITI Supporter Status
As of December 2011, Marathon was a supporter company of the EITI.

UN Global Compact
As of December 2011, Marathon was not participating in the UN Global Compact.

CSR Review
Marathon's 2010 Social Responsibility Report highlights the following achievements made over the year:


 * Marathon's business is rooted in 'Living Our Values', a philosophy encompassing longstanding commitments to health and safety, environmental stewardship, honesty and integrity, corporate citizenship and a high performance team culture.
 * Ethics training includes mandatory computer-based training (CBT) in the first 60 days of employment and biannual thereafter. Marathon achieved 100% participation in required ethics training in 2010, reaching more than 7,300 employees.
 * Marathon's comprehensive annual anti-corruption compliance audit program covers operations and outside-operated interests in countries that are not in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
 * The company decreased greenhouse gas emissions intensity for the second consecutive year, with 2010 intensity 8% below 2008 levels.
 * The overall number of spills increased approximately 14% in 2010, but the total volume decreased 58% compared to 2009. THe company claims to investigate spills to identify their causes and take incident-specific corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
 * Marathon's major strategic social responsibility project continued to be the Bioko Island Malaria Control Project in Equatorial Guinea.

External Coverage

 * In 2006 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Marathon had agreed to pay nearly $38,000 for alleged PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls) violations at its facility at the Spark oil platform off the coast of Alaska. Marathon's activities violated the federal Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) by failing to properly register and store two PCB transformers for disposal and reuse.


 * According to lobbying disclosure forms, in the first quarter of 2011 Marathon spent $1.08 million on lobbying on a number of foreign policy issues, including “investment by Marathon Oil Corporation in developing energy resources in Equatorial Guinea” and “Equatorial Guinea – U.S. Engagement.” In 2010 they spent over $5 million lobbying on similar foreign policy concerns.

= Global Operations by Country=

Iraq
"Main article: Marathon Operations in Iraq"

Kenya
"Main article: Marathon Operations in Kenya"

Libya
"Main article: Marathon Operations in Libya"

Syria
"Main article: Marathon Operations in Syria"

=References= 