If you’ve been refreshing your brokerage app lately looking for Marathon Oil Company stock, you might have noticed something a bit jarring. The ticker symbol MRO is gone. It didn’t just have a bad day; it basically vanished from the New York Stock Exchange.
Now, don't panic. Your money didn't disappear into a black hole of corporate accounting. But honestly, if you aren't tracking the massive shifts in the energy sector, what happened to your position might feel like a mystery.
The Big Disappearance of Marathon Oil Company Stock
The short story is that Marathon Oil Company stock ceased to exist as an independent entity on November 22, 2024. This was the day ConocoPhillips officially closed its massive $22.5 billion acquisition of the company. It was a huge deal. Ryan Lance, the CEO of ConocoPhillips, wanted that high-quality shale inventory, and he was willing to pay a premium to get it.
When the merger finalized, every single share of MRO was converted. You didn't get cash (unless you had fractional shares). Instead, you became a shareholder of ConocoPhillips (COP).
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The Math Behind Your New Portfolio
The exchange ratio was set at 0.255. Basically, for every 100 shares of Marathon Oil you owned, you woke up to find 25.5 shares of ConocoPhillips in your account.
Because you can't really trade half a share on most traditional platforms, that 0.5 share was usually "cashed out." Your broker likely deposited a small amount of cash to cover that fraction.
Why This Merger Changed the Game for Investors
Why did ConocoPhillips want this so badly? It wasn't just a random land grab. Marathon Oil brought some of the best "unconventional" assets in the U.S. to the table. We're talking about prime real estate in the Eagle Ford in Texas, the Bakken in North Dakota, and the Permian Basin in New Mexico.
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By absorbing Marathon, ConocoPhillips added roughly 2 billion barrels of resources to its inventory. They expect to save about $500 million in the first full year just by cutting overlapping costs. For a shareholder, this means you went from owning a mid-sized independent producer to owning a piece of a global "super-independent" powerhouse.
Common Misconceptions: Is it the same as Marathon Petroleum?
This is where people get tripped up all the time. Marathon Oil (the old MRO) and Marathon Petroleum (MPC) are not the same thing. They haven't been the same company since 2011.
- Marathon Oil (MRO): These were the "upstream" guys. They found the oil and pulled it out of the ground. They are now part of ConocoPhillips.
- Marathon Petroleum (MPC): These are the "downstream" guys. They own the refineries and the Speedway gas stations. They are still trading independently.
If you are looking at a chart today and see a stock called Marathon trading for over $170, you're looking at the refiner (MPC), not the oil producer you used to own.
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What to Do With Your New ConocoPhillips Shares
If you’re holding the bag of COP shares that replaced your Marathon Oil Company stock, you’ve got a decision to make. ConocoPhillips is a different beast. It’s a massive, dividend-paying machine that is much more sensitive to global macro trends than the old Marathon was.
- Check Your Cost Basis: This is the boring tax stuff that actually matters. Your broker should have updated the cost basis for your new COP shares, but it’s always smart to double-check the 1099-B forms.
- Evaluate the Dividend: ConocoPhillips has been aggressive about returning cash to shareholders. After the merger, they signaled a plan to buy back $20 billion in shares over three years.
- Watch the Debt: The deal included taking on about $5.4 billion of Marathon’s debt. While ConocoPhillips has a strong balance sheet, it’s a lot of weight to integrate during a volatile energy market.
Actionable Next Steps for Former Shareholders
First, log into your brokerage and look at your "Activity" or "History" tab for late November 2024. You should see a line item for "Merger" or "Corporate Action" that shows the MRO to COP conversion.
Second, decide if you want to keep the exposure. Marathon was a "pure play" on U.S. shale. ConocoPhillips is much broader, with assets in 13 countries and a massive LNG business. If you specifically wanted that smaller, scrappier shale focus, you might want to look at other independent producers like Diamondback Energy or Devon Energy.
Finally, keep an eye on the $1 billion synergy target. ConocoPhillips promised Wall Street they could squeeze $1 billion in value out of this merger within the first 12 months. If they miss that mark in their 2026 earnings reports, it could signal that the integration is harder than they let on.