Marathon stated that the increase is primarily due to activity related to the Garyville, Louisiana, refinery expansion; the Athabasca oil sands project in Alberta, Canada, and the associated Detroit refinery heavy oil upgrading and expansion project.
Marathon’s 2008 worldwide exploration and production budget of $3.2 billion reflects an increase of 23% over 2007 spending of $2.6 billion.
Refining, marketing and transportation spending is expected to total $3.5 billion in 2008, compared to $1.7 billion in 2007.
The 2008 budget also includes increased investments in transportation, logistics and marketing assets to allow the company to leverage and strengthen its position as a provider of transportation fuels, particularly with the growing importance of ultra-low sulfur diesel and the renewable fuels standards.
