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Marathon Oil Corp., the fourth-biggest U.S. integrated oil company, will spin off its fuel-making business, creating a refiner that may be worth $9 billion.
Marathon shareholders will get one share of the new entity, Marathon Petroleum Corp., for every two shares they own as of a still-undetermined date, according to a company statement Thursday. Marathon Petroleum will be the fifth- largest U.S. refiner, capable of processing 1.14 million barrels of crude a day, the company said.
The refining unit may be worth an estimated $8 billion to $9 billion based on its capacity, according to Jim Byrne, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets. After the spinoff, Marathon Oil will focus on crude and natural-gas exploration and production. Bloomberg News
