HOUSTON and MAUMEE, Ohio, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) and The Andersons, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANDE), today jointly announced that the companies will immediately begin construction of an ethanol plant located in Greenville, Ohio.
The Greenville site will be the first to be constructed by The Andersons Marathon Ethanol LLC, a 50/50 joint venture between The Andersons, Inc. and Marathon Petroleum Company LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Oil Corporation.
The joint venture closed the purchase of property in September and received approval by the Greenville City Council for ordinances allowing zoning changes necessary for construction and extension of the enterprise zone that will support tax abatements for the project.
The project recently received Ohio EPA approval for an air permit needed for plant operation.
The facility will have the annual capacity to produce 110 million gallons of ethanol and 350,000 tons of distillers dried grain (DDG), an animal feed ingredient. The facility could be operational as soon as the first quarter of 2008, employing a workforce of 40 employees.
About Marathon
Marathon is the fourth-largest U.S.-based fully integrated international energy company engaged in exploration and production; integrated gas; and refining, marketing and transportation operations.
The Company has exploration and production activities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Angola, Canada, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Indonesia, Ireland, Libya and Norway. Marathon also is developing integrated gas projects that are linking stranded natural gas resources with key demand areas where domestic production is declining and demand is growing, particularly in North America. Marathon is the fifth largest refiner in the U.S. with 974,000 bpd of crude processing capacity in its seven-refinery system.
The Company's retail marketing system comprises approximately 5,700 locations in 17 states; nearly three-quarters are Marathon brand locations. Marathon serves the Midwest and Southeast as a petroleum products marketer with 87 light product and asphalt terminals and the Company owns, operates, leases or has an ownership interest in approximately 9,900 miles of pipeline.
About The Andersons, Inc.
The Andersons, Inc. is a diversified company with interests in the grain, ethanol and plant nutrient sectors of U.S. agriculture, as well as in railcar leasing and repair, turf products production, and general merchandise retailing. Founded in Maumee, Ohio, in 1947, the company now has operations in seven U.S. states plus rail leasing interests in Canada and Mexico. For more, visit The Andersons online at http://www.andersonsinc.com .