Marathon Oil Corp. raised its dividend by over 30% on April 29, becoming the latest U.S. oil producer to do so as prices continue to recover from the pandemic-driven crash last year.
In a company release, Marathon Oil said its board of directors declared a dividend of 4 cents per share, a 33% increase. Other oil companies to do so far include oil major Chevron Corp. and Continental Resources Inc., which reinstated its dividend on April 28 after posting first quarterly profit since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Additionally, Marathon Oil said April 29 it had fully redeemed its $500 million senior notes due 2022, originally announced by the company in late March, reducing its annual cash interest expense by $14 million.
The redemption, according to CEO Lee Tillman, fully addresses Marathon’s next significant debt maturity.
“These actions are fully consistent with our objective to both further enhance our investment-grade balance sheet and return an increasing amount of capital to shareholders,” Tillman said in a statement in the April 29 release.
Based in Houston, Marathon Oil is active in oil-rich resource plays, such as the Eagle Ford in Texas, the Bakken in North Dakota, the STACK and SCOOP in Oklahoma, and the Permian Basin in New Mexico. The company also has international operations in Equatorial Guinea.
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