Shares of Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) surged more than 11% in Thursday's pre-market trading after the company announced today that it has approved moving forward with plans to spin off Marathon's downstream business, creating two independent, highly focused energy companies. Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC), to be headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, is expected to be the fifth largest U.S. refiner with a top-tier downstream portfolio of strategically aligned assets concentrated mainly in the Midwest, Gulf Coast and Southeast regions of the U.S. MPC is anticipated to trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "MPC". The spin-off is expected to be tax-free and to be effective June 30, 2011.
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