In its third quarter results published on Tuesday, Marathon Oil Corporation issued the following statement on its operations in Libya:
Production operations in Libya were suspended in the first quarter of 2011 and resumed with limited production in the fourth quarter of 2011.
During the third quarter of 2012, net production available for sale averaged 74,000 boed, compared to 44,000 boed in the second quarter, and net sales averaged 53,000 boed compared to 44,000 boed in the second quarter.
Production available for sale was higher than the second quarter and higher than third quarter net sales due to a natural gas sales agreement executed in the third quarter.
This agreement resulted in the Company reflecting Jan. 1, 2006 through Sept. 4, 2012 production available for sale in the third quarter, and the Company anticipates recovering these volumes through increased natural gas sales over approximately the next 20 months.
Marathon Oil has not included production from Libya in forecasts because of the uncertainty around sustained production levels.