- Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) +2.3% AH despite posting a larger than expected Q2 loss, as it raises its 2017 production forecast while cutting planned capex by as much as $300M.
- MRO raises its forecast for FY 2017 total production available for sale to 345K-360K boe/day, a 7% increase at the midpoint on a divestiture-adjusted basis, and increases its expected exit rate growth in U.S. resource plays to 23%-27% growth from its previous 20%-25% guidance.
- At the same time, MRO cuts its 2017 capital spending program to $2.1B-$2.2B from previous guidance of $2.4B.
- MRO cites "important progress on several key strategic objectives in the resource plays, while exceeding expectations on efficiency, base performance and new well productivity" as reasons for expected production increases even with reduced capex.
- For Q2, MRO's production, excluding Libya operations, rose ~2% Y/Y to 349K boe/day.