HOUSTON (AP) -- Marathon Oil Corp. said Wednesday that first-quarter net income fell by 58 percent following a decline in production and natural gas prices. The company also was comparing its results with a year-ago period that included its now spun-off refining business.
The Houston oil and natural gas producer reported earnings of $417 million, or 59 cents per share, for the first three months of the year. That compares with $996 million, or $1.39 per share, in the year-ago quarter that included $541 million from Marathon's refining business that was spun off last June.
Revenue increased by 6.1 percent to $4.04 billion.
Excluding special items such as an impairment charge related to a reduction in some of its Gulf of Mexico reserve estimates, Marathon said it earned an adjusted 67 cents per share. That still fell below Wall Street profit expectations of 88 cents per share, though Marathon beat analyst sales forecasts of $3.37 billion, according to FactSet.
Shares of the company fell nearly 5 percent, or $1.37, to $28.82 in afternoon trading.
Marathon said that overall production available for sale declined 4.3 percent in the period to 383 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. It sold oil between January and March for an average of $106.06 per barrel, up 10.7 percent from the same period last year. Natural gas was sold for an average of $2.96 per 1,000 cubic feet, down 11.4 percent.
