Murphy Oil trims output forecast

SAN FRANCSICO (MarketWatch) — Murphy Oil Corp. trimmed its daily oil production outlook Wednesday, citing lower output from a problematic offshore field in Canada and further delays restoring output at a hurricane-damaged facility in the Gulf of Mexico.

Murphy said it now expects to produce the equivalent of about 110,000 barrels of oil a day in the first quarter and for the full year, or 5,000 barrels a day less than it predicted on Feb. 1 when it released its fourth-quarter earnings report.

If, as predicted, the lower output level persists through the year, it would reduce Murphy’s overall production by about 1.8 million barrels.

The El Dorado, Ark.-based company blamed the lower output on equipment problems on the Terra Nova field off the east coast of Canada and the continued partial shutdown on a field in the Gulf of Mexico in which Murphy is a stakeholder.

MarketWatch