Marathon Oil's profits miss estimates due to low natural gas prices

Marathon Oil, a U.S.-based oil and gas company, missed Wall Street's expectations for its second quarter profit on Wednesday due to a drop in the price of natural gas.

Gas prices in the U.S. dropped due to mild weather that pushed up demand, and a surge of stored volume because pipeline capacity was inadequate.

Marathon Oil reported that its average realized natural gas price in the U.S. has declined by 24.9%, to $1.42 a thousand cubic feet.

Last week, a fall in the price of natural gas also contributed to a loss at Coterra Energy.

After the bell, shares of Marathon Oil fell by 1.7%. Marathon Oil had previously agreed to be sold to ConocoPhillips in May for $22.5 billion.

Due to lower natural gas and oil liquid production, the company's total quarterly output has decreased to 393,000 barrels equivalent per day. This is down from 399,000 boepd a year ago.

The company stated that "total oil and oil equivalent production is expected to reach its peak in the third quarter with oil production increasing to about 200,000 net barrels per day, before easing into the fourth."

According to LSEG, Marathon Oil reported adjusted earnings per share of 63c for the quarter ended June 30. This compares with an average analyst estimate of 69c per share. Reporting and editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi, Shilpa Majumdar, and Sourasis BOSE in Bengaluru

(source: Reuters)