Marathon Oil Corp (MRO.N) said on Thursday it would split off its refinery and pipeline operations into a stand-alone company, pushing its shares up nearly 11 percent in premarket trading. The move, which will take effect beginning June 30, 2011, will create the fifth-largest U.S. refiner and revives a plan the company had shelved in December 2008 when the financial crisis hit commodity markets. "The substantial improvement in the global business and financial environments over the last two years has created the conditions under which we believe it is now appropriate to move forward with the formation of two strong independent energy companies." Clarence P. Cazalot, Jr, Marathon president and CEO, said in a statement.
Source
