Biofuels and other renewable energy resources increase the
diversity of supply in the U.S. Marathon is investing in
manufacturing, blending and distributing of biofuels, a growing
component in the U.S. transportation fuel mix.
For more than 15 years, Marathon has been a leading blender of
corn-based ethanol, a primary renewable fuel in the U.S. The Company
has the capability to blend approximately 1.2 billion gallons of
ethanol per year and to sell ethanol-blended gasoline across most of
its light product gasoline terminal facilities in 17 states.
Marathon has also invested in the manufacture of ethanol through a
50 percent interest in a facility in Ohio and a 35 percent interest in
a facility in Indiana. Each plant has capacity to manufacture 110
million gallons per year of ethanol.
The Company is also studying opportunities in next-generation
biofuels and has invested $10 million in a company that will identify,
patent and deploy microbes and low-cost processes for producing
cellulosic ethanol from a range of feedstocks. Next-generation
biofuels are those produced from feedstocks that have no food value or
are grown on land that cannot be used for producing food.
Marathon Oil Corporation is the nation’s fifth largest
refiner with 1,016,000 barrels per calendar day (bpcd) capacity in its
seven-refinery system, a comprehensive terminal and transportation
system and extensive marketing operations throughout the Midwest and
Southeast. Marathon has supported the use of renewable fuels for more
than 15 years and is one of the largest blenders of ethanol in the
U.S. In 2008, the Company completed a major ethanol infrastructure
project to bring ethanol blending to all of its markets. Marathon now
offers ethanol blended fuels at 59 of its 61 terminals, including all
six of the Company’s light products terminals in Kentucky. Marathon
also markets soy-based B-2 (2 percent biodiesel) to B-11 (11 percent
biodiesel) at four terminals in Kentucky, Illinois and Minnesota.