Marathon Oil Corp.’s subsidiary Marathon Upstream Gabon Ltd. has entered into a farmout agreement with Total Gabon for a 21.25% working interest in the Diaba License G4-223 and its related permit in Gabon, Africa. The companies expect to close the transaction, subject to completion of the necessary Gabonese government and partner approvals, in third quarter 2012.

With an area of approximately 9,075 sq km, the Diaba license is about 50 km off the southern coast of Gabon in water depths between 100 m (328 ft) and 3,500 m (11,482 ft).

In addition to Total Gabon, which serves as operator, the partners in the Diaba license and permit are CIE Gabon Diaba Ltd., an affiliate of Cobalt International Energy, and the Republic of Gabon.

"We are pleased to re-enter Gabon and join our partners to explore pre-salt objectives in the Diaba permit," said Annell R. Bay, Marathon Oil's vice president of global exploration. "This partnership combines the extensive deepwater drilling and completion experience of Marathon Oil, Cobalt and Total Gabon to fully evaluate the potential of this license."

Seismic data interpretation continues in preparation for the planned start of exploration drilling first quarter 2013.