Refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp said it would purchase oil and natural gas company Hess Corp's retail and transport business for $2.87 billion, expanding its network of gas stations and convenience stores along the U.S. East Coast.The deal will also increase the refining company's exposure to more stable cash flows and expand the number of outlets where the company can sell its gasoline, Marathon's Chief Executive Officer Gary Heminger said on a conference call on Thursday.Marathon Petroleum sells gasoline, food and drinks mainly through its owned and operated 1,480 Speedway convenience stores in nine states in the Midwest.Hess, which operates 1,256 stores in 16 states along the East Coast and Southeast, will use the sale proceeds for additional share buybacks and has increased its existing repurchase program to $6.5 billion from $4 billion, it said.
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (Marathon Petroleum) is engaged in refining, transporting and marketing petroleum products in the United States. Shares of MPC traded higher by 0.1% or $0.09/share to $87.78. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $61.32 and as high as $97.70. On average, 3300340 shares of MPC exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1804288.
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