Marathon sells gas fields to Malaysia

THE Marathon Oil Corporation has sold off the bulk of its Irish operations — which include gas fields off the Cork coast that supply 8% of Ireland’s natural gas needs — to the Malaysian government for $180 million (€130.26m).

The sell-off does not include Marathon’s 18.5% interest in the controversial Corrib gas development. Marathon, the fourth- largest US oil company, yesterday announced it has agreed to sell Marathon Oil Ireland Ltd for $180m to Star Energy Group, a subsidiary of Petroliam Nasional Berhad, Malaysia’s state oil company.

The Irish unit’s assets include a 100% interest in the Kinsale Head gas fields, and an 86.5% interest in the gas-producing Seven Heads field. There’s also a 100% interest in a gas storage business with current capacity of 7 billion cubic feet.