Marathon Oil Corporation

▪ American corporation

      American oil and gas company with a full range of operations from exploration and production to marketing and transportation. Marathon Oil, founded in 1887 as the Ohio Oil Company, came under the control of the Standard Oil Trust (Standard Oil Company and Trust) in 1889. When the Standard Oil combine was broken up by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1911, the company again became independent; it adopted the name Marathon Oil Company in 1962. It operated mainly in North America, with some production in Libya and Nigeria and additional refining and wholesaling in Europe. In 1976 its acquisition of Pan Ocean Oil Corporation brought mineral interests, chiefly in coal, fluorspar, and zinc. It became a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation in 1982and in 1986 was reorganized, with U.S. Steel, as part of USX Corporation. Marathon increased its scope and market share in 1998 by combining some of its operations with Ashland Inc. In 2001 Marathon separated from U.S. Steel, and the following year USX was renamed Marathon Oil Corporation. Marathon acquired the Russian Khanty Mansiysk Oil Corporation in 2003.

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