Marathon lowers production forecast on heels of Hurricane Ivan

Ray Tyson

Marathon Oil said that because of disruptions caused by Hurricane Ivan and other factors the company now expects to have averaged about 304,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the 2004 third quarter, down from previous guidance of 337,000 bpd.

The company said Oct. 4 that later than anticipated ramp up of liquids production in Equatorial Guinea and other unplanned downtime during the quarter contributed to the shortfall.

In the Gulf of Mexico, the Petronius production facility has been shut-in due to weather-related damage from Ivan. Prior to the hurricane, Petronius was producing approximately 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

“A timeline for resumption of production is difficult to predict as a full assessment is not yet complete,” Marathon said, adding that an update on estimated 2004 fourth-quarter and full year production would be provided during the company’s quarterly earnings call on Oct. 26.

Marathon said the company recently completed its previously announced effort to solicit offers for its wholly owned subsidiary Pennaco Energy in the Powder River basin of Wyoming and Montana. While the company received offers for Pennaco, none of them were sufficient to warrant a sale of these assets, Marathon said.