Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation is a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration headquartered in Houston, Texas.

The company is ranked 625th on the Fortune 500 and 1860th on the Forbes Global 2000.

As of December 31, 2020, the company had 714.9 e6BOE of estimated proved reserves, of which 51% was petroleum, 42% was natural gas, and 7% was natural gas liquids.

The company's developed reserves are in the United States and Canada. The company also has undeveloped reserves in Australia, Brazil, Brunei, Mexico, and Vietnam.

In the United States, the company's reserves are primarily in the Eagle Ford Group area of South Texas and in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

The company's Canadian operations are mostly heavy crude oil projects in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

Of the company's 2020 production of 174.636 e3BOE per day, 59% was petroleum, 5% was natural gas liquids, and 36% was natural gas.

History
The company was founded in 1944 as CH Murphy & Co by Charles H. Murphy Sr. and incorporated in Louisiana in 1950.

Mason Houghland opened the first Spur gas station in Old Hickory, Tennessee in 1928. After Wilhelm von Opel invested in the company, it became a chain, with 275 locations and annual sales of $40 million. In 1957, an appeals court ruled that von Opel's son Fritz von Opel was not entitled to the share of Spur Oil Company his father had owned. Houghland bought the shares and Equitable Securities handled the public offering. Equitable arranged the merger of Spur Oil Company with Murphy shortly after Houghland's death in 1959.

In 1960, Murphy set up Murco Petroleum in the United Kingdom.

Murphy entered the Malaysia market in 1999 after a purchase of three offshore blocks, solidifying its position as a player in the offshore development space. The first discovery in this area, the West Patricia prospect, was announced in 2001 and followed by a significant discovery in the Kikeh in 2002 (went into production by 2007).

In 2003, the company acquired acreage offshore Republic of Congo.

In 2004, the company sold oil fields in Western Canada for US$633 million.

In July 2011, the company sold its refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, to Calumet for $214 million.

In September 2011, the company sold its refinery in Meraux, Louisiana, to Valero Energy for $325 million.

In August 2013, the company distributed 100% of the shares in its retail marketing gasoline station chain, Murphy USA, to its shareholders via a corporate spin-off.

In 2016, the company sold its 5% stake in Syncrude Canada Ltd., a joint venture located about 25 miles north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, for C$937 million.

In 2017, the company acquired acreage offshore Brazil.

In July 2019, Murphy sold its assets in Malaysia to PTT Exploration and Production for $2.035 billion.

In May 2020, the company relocated to Houston and closed several offices.

From 2024 to 2029, the company plans to allocate 10% of its budget to exploration. In 2024, the company's capital budget ranges from $920 million to $1.02 billion (up 6% from 2023). The exploration budget will reach $120 million, and projects will include two exploration wells in Vietnam and two more in the Gulf of Mexico. Also in 2024, the company plans to allocate about $300 million for development drilling and field development projects, including operated and non-operated subsea tiebacks.

El Dorado Promise
In January 2007, Murphy announced that it would set aside $50 million to ensure that every student graduating from the El Dorado, Arkansas, school system would be able to afford college. The scholarship, which requires that students spend a certain number of years in the El Dorado school system and maintain a 2.0 grade point average while in college, pays tuition and all mandatory fees for students, up to the highest annual rate charged by an Arkansas public university. Scholarship amounts are paid based on length of attendance in the El Dorado Public School District. For example, graduates who attend all 13 years at El Dorado Public Schools will receive 100% of the scholarship.

Legal issues
In August 2005, during Hurricane Katrina, an oil storage tank at the Murphy Oil refinery in Meraux, Louisiana, floated off its foundation and released more than one million gallons of crude oil into Meraux and Chalmette. A class-action lawsuit against Murphy Oil ended in a settlement in 2009; the company was required to pay $330 million to 6,200 claimants, including owners of about 1,800 affected residential properties in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.

In 2007, following a benzene leak in Louisiana, Murphy Oil was fined $395,313 in civil penalties plus $1.5 million for cleanup costs by the US EPA. The case was settled in April 2019.