Marathon Oil Corp.'s first-quarter profits soared 142% over 2005 earnings, mainly due to higher refining margins and improved refined product sales, the company said in its April 27 quarterly statement.
The company posted a first-quarter 2006 profit of $784 million, or $2.13 per share, compared with $324 million, or 93 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue increased 27.9% to $16.64 billion from $13.01 billion during the same period last year. Exploration and production income increased to $477 million from $334 million during the year-earlier period.
"We achieved additional exploration success and continued to advance our major product developments safely and on time around the globe," said Clarence Cazalot, Marathon president and CEO, in the April statement. Cazalot added that these exploration projects are positioning the company to increase production 8% to 11% between 2004 and 2008.
Oil field development efforts already underway include the Alvheim project in Norway (53% complete) and the Neptune development in the Gulf of Mexico (22% complete). The company also plans to drill approximately 300 wells over the next four to five years in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and eastern Montana.
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