Oil Boom Profits

Marathon Oil Corp. said Monday it is considering a Canadian oil sands venture, while also announcing it awarded a front-end engineering and design contract to Fluor Corp. for a project at its Detroit refinery.

In a statement, Chief Executive and President Clarence P. Cazalot said Marathon has been in discussions with several players in the Canadian oil sands sector, and the company is looking for potential upstream operators for the project.

It plans to issue a request for proposals, under which Marathon would provide heavy Canadian oil sands crude oil processing capacity in exchange for an ownership stake in the project.

The Fluor contract is for a proposed heavy oil upgrading project at Marathon's 100,000 barrel-per-day Detroit refinery. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Marathon said it is also conducting a feasibility study for a similar project at its 222,000 barrel-per-day Catlettsburg, Ky., refinery.

Marathon shares fell 1 cent to $88.50 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.