Deepwater Droshky Project

First oil from Droshky, a major Gulf of Mexico subsea oil development 160 miles off the Louisiana coast, is anticipated to come in on time and under budget in mid-2010. Marathon owns a 100 percent working interest in Droshky, which is expected to produce approximately 50 thousand net barrels of oil equivalent per day (mboepd) at its peak and develop net potential resources of 60 million barrels.

Executed properly, accelerated project development enhances both project and shareholder value. The Company was able to move Droshky forward at a rapid pace by making sound investment decisions quickly, applying technology skillfully at every stage of exploration and development, and rigorously implementing its project management system.

Located in Green Canyon 244 in 3,000 feet of water, Droshky is a technically complex undertaking. Marathon overcame numerous project challenges through seamless integration among the many functional teams involved and world-class front-end technical work, commercial skills and project planning.

The Company set a high standard of performance with Droshky, drilling and completing four wells to approximately 22,000 feet each in an average of 40 days. An external review rated this drilling performance number one among 72 deepwater Gulf of Mexico wells surveyed since 2007. Over the last decade, the same survey ranked Marathon's deepwater Gulf of Mexico drilling performance third among 20 participating operators.

State-of-the-art completion techniques at Droshky allow Marathon to capture reserves from 13 separate sand intervals in just four wells. Complex downhole equipment facilitates remote selection and production of zones during the life of the well. This approach will maximize capital efficiency and reduce or eliminate future well interventions.

In addition to significantly increasing production volumes in Marathon's Gulf of Mexico assets, Droshky is important because it supports the Company's technical view of the key Miocene play in the basin. Lessons learned on Droshky will be invaluable to Marathon's future exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.