Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR)

[MacRecord094]

Southeastern Asset Management Comments on Murphy Oil - Oct 22, 2015
As one of our energy holdings, Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR), an exploration and production company with a portfolio of global offshore and onshore assets, was a primary performance detractor, down 41% in the quarter, with approximately half of the impact coming from the equity we hold and the other half from the options. This happened despite beating estimates on production and operating cash flow (OCF) and raising production estimates for the rest of the year. Murphy management is focused on driving costs lower and shortening drill times while improving production efficiency to reduce capex to cash flow levels. Furthermore, after disappointing international drilling results in recent years, the company will not invest in higher risk, higher cost wells at this time; instead, management plans to focus rig commitments and to allocate capital to higher return opportunities near lower-risk existing infrastructure where the company has had prior exploration success. Murphy remains well capitalized with diverse cash flow sources and an investment grade rating. It also has non-core pieces that could be monetized to unlock value. CEO Roger Jenkins continues to repurchase shares at the company level and invest personally.