Murphy Oil (MUR, $35.43) – A Shining Star in a Tumbling Market

The U.S. stock market experienced its worst two-day stretch in recent history as the DOW fell by 1,300 points, but Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR, $35.43) continue to hold down the fort by clocking double digit growth.  

Murphy Oil’s stock price rose by ~12% as the news of Murphy Oil and Petrobras (PBR, $14.86) entered a strategic joint venture (JV) agreement for deep-water oil exploration operations in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). 

As per the terms of the deal, Murphy Oil will be paying Petrobras $900 million to compensate for the value difference and for setting up the JV. Although Murphy Oil will run the operations with 80% stake in the JV, both companies would contribute all their currently producing assets to the venture. According to the deal, Petrobras will earn another $150 million if certain price and output limits are exceeded within a set time frame.

For Murphy Oil, this deal not only helps them enhance total production capability by nearly 41,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, it also helps in boosting the company’s margin. It also allows Murphy Oil to collaborate with the global leaders in the deep-water exploration segment, thus enabling superior shareholder value creation and robust cash flow generation for the company.