Marathon to Sell $870M in Wyoming Assets

Marathon Oil Corp. will sell its Wyoming upstream and midstream assets for $870 million, as big energy producers continue to reshape their portfolios during a severe and extended pricing downturn.  The Houston company said in February that it would increase its target for noncore asset sales to a range of $750 million to $1 billion, from $500 million, as part of a goal of "living within our means."  The Wyoming transaction and other deals announced Monday totaled $950 million, putting Marathon ahead of its revised target with about $1.3 billion of sale agreements since last year.  A Marathon news release didn't identify the buyers.  The Wyoming deal will include waterflood developments in the Big Horn and Wind River basins and the 570-mile Red Butte pipeline.  "Ongoing portfolio management continues to drive the simplification and concentration of our portfolio to lower risk, higher return U.S. resource plays," Marathon said.  Several energy producers have been successful in efforts to raise cash in stock offerings. Marathon's upsized stock sale worth up to $1.275 billion priced on Feb. 29.  Marathon announced a 2016 capital spending program of $1.4 billion in February, down from $3 billion last year. The company posted a $793 million fourth-quarter loss.