Equatorial Guinea

Our holdings in EG include Marathon EG Production Limited’s (MEGPL) offshore Alba Field and the Alba Plant LLC’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plant; a liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facility operated by Equatorial Guinea LNG Operations, S.A. (EG LNG); and a methanol production facility, operated by the Atlantic Methanol Production Company (AMPCO).

We have operated the Punta Europa integrated gas business to world-class standards of performance since 2002 while building a largely national workforce, contributing to local economic sustainability, helping develop local human capacity to enhance community health and education and providing significant social investments to eradicate endemic malaria.

With declining production of developed natural gas and associated liquids from the Alba Field, we’re working with the government of EG and our partners to create a Gas Mega Hub, with Punta Europa as the center, to process and liquefy gas from proximate fields in EG and neighboring countries. The first phase of the Gas Mega Hub started in early 2021 with the delivery of wet gas from the offshore Alen Field to the Punta Europa complex for processing and liquefaction. Our goal is to continue to be a good corporate neighbor for EG’s people and its economy and to keep Punta Europa facilities operating at capacity for the foreseeable future by pursuing other resource opportunities for future phases of development.

Marathon Oil has consistently increased the percentage of national citizens in our workforce in EG through recruiting, training and development assignments; workforce integration; and educational and vocational programs. We continue to develop and promote Equatoguineans for supervisory and leadership roles. From 2019 to year-end 2021, MEGPL nationalized six manager positions, resulting in three departments being fully nationalized: MEGPL’s human resources, supply chain and external programs and liaison.

At year-end 2021, approximately 610 national citizens were employed directly or indirectly at MEGPL, representing 93% of the total MEGPL workforce. In addition, EG LNG and AMPCO employed approximately 600 national workers at year-end 2021.

We’re also developing the local workforce by providing educational and skill-building opportunities. Over the past five years, more than 80 Equatoguinean students attending universities within and outside the country have received on-the-job experience through our internship programs. Our partnerships with government educational institutions including “12 de Octubre” Technical College and the National University of Equatorial Guinea (UNGE) demonstrate our ongoing commitment to building local capacity in the oil and gas sector.

We invest in our workplace health, environment and safety (HES) management systems to help achieve world-class safety performance and minimize environmental impacts in EG. MEGPL, EG LNG and AMPCO had a combined total recordable incident rate (TRIR) of 0.06 in 2021, with over 3 million hours worked. MEGPL and EG LNG achieved a full year without an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable event or a lost time incident (LTI). Our safety commitment in 2021 resulted in more than 1,200 field leadership safety engagements and more than 5,000 behavior-based safety observations.

In 2021, we also saw an outstanding achievement in terms of helping protect our personnel from COVID-19 through vaccination. Through the vaccination program implemented at Punta Europa in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, we’ve been able to meet the goal of vaccinating almost 100% of our EG workforce. This has enabled us to significantly reduce the potential impacts caused by the virus as well as ease some protocols we had in place. In addition, MEGPL coordinated with an industry partner to purchase 25,000 antigen tests that were donated to the Baney Laboratory pandemic response efforts.

By increasing local supplier capabilities for our operations, we contribute to economic sustainability in EG. Since 2013, MEGPL has spent approximately U.S. $1.09 billion with Equatoguinean suppliers. In 2021, 92% of our expenditures for contract services and 18% of material purchases were awarded to locally-owned contractors. To increase local purchasing, we’ve organized engagement programs and training sessions for local suppliers, and we improved our bidding process to provide local material suppliers with increased opportunities to supply a greater portion of frequently purchased items.

Our procurement staff shares upcoming commercial opportunities and a refresher on our procurement process in interactive sessions with local suppliers and the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons National Content Director. We continue to work with the EG National Alliance of Hydrocarbons Services Company in presentations, seminars and workshops to understand and help find solutions to local suppliers’ challenges.

MEGPL, EG LNG and AMPCO continue to collaborate through the Punta Europa National Content Committee to help local businesses throughout the procurement process. The committee offers a simplified new vendor set-up process across the three companies, promotes local provider engagement and reviews strategies to increase the participation of Equatoguinean suppliers.

Malaria is one of the main public health threats in Equatorial Guinea, reducing life expectancy. Since 2003, Marathon Oil has supported the Bioko Island Malaria Elimination Program (BIMEP), a multi-system public health program.

With nearly two decades spent in the fight against malaria, major BIMEP accomplishments include:

• 54% reduction in the malaria parasite prevalence in children aged 2-14 years (from 45% in 2004 to 20.7% in 2021).
• 63% reduction of all-cause mortality among children under five years old (attributed mainly to malaria interventions).
• 97% reduction in the rate of transmission of the parasite by the vectors.
• Elimination of one of the three main malaria vector species (An. funestus).
• 350+ Equatoguineans are employed through BIMEP’s focus on building national capacity.

These outcomes led to improved institutional frameworks and infrastructure that enable the Government of EG to participate in the international medical science research community. As examples, the first National Ethics Committee in Equatorial Guinea has been established and the Baney Hospital Reference Laboratory was created. In addition to its malaria work, the Lab is currently supporting all Sars-COV-2 activities in Equatorial Guinea.

Combatting Malaria

The Bioko Island Malaria Elimination Program (BIMEP) combats malaria with a series of integrated malaria-control measures provided free of charge to all residents on Bioko Island, including distributing long-lasting insecticide nets, targeted indoor residual spraying, epidemiological surveillance, mosquito vector monitoring, communications to support behavior change and robust monitoring and evaluation systems.

Implemented by MCD Global Health, the BIMEP is funded through a public-private partnership of MEGPL, Noble Energy EG Ltd (a Chevron Company), AMPCO and the Government of Equatorial Guinea, which together have invested more than U.S. $181 million.

We invest in building human capacity focused on health and education and helped fund a program aimed at increasing the quantity and quality of nursing professionals available in-country. Since 2018, MEGPL has invested U.S. $1.5 million in a nurse training program in collaboration with the Foundation for Nursing Development, the EG Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and National University of Equatorial Guinea (UNGE) to improve the quality of service and prenatal and neonatal care in the public health sector. Graduates went on to work with prenatal and postnatal mothers and newborns across EG’s district health centers. In total, over 111 nurses have been trained through the program.

Since entering Equatorial Guinea, EG LNG has spent over U.S. $25 million to provide water wells and build and renovate schools across the country. These have significantly increased the ability of students from rural areas to receive an education.

In addition, Marathon Oil supports smaller projects that benefit the community, such as the Books for Bioko program. Since 2004, Marathon Oil employees worldwide have raised over U.S. $1 million for much-needed supplies for more than 6,000 students in nine Malabo schools.

We’re committed to helping Equatoguinean youth improve their academic and social opportunities. To help youth with eyesight issues get proper care and medical attention, MEGPL started the Ver Bien EG Project in 2017 to screen children for eyesight issues in private and public primary and secondary schools on Bioko Island. After its initial success, MEGPL expanded the program’s reach and impact nationally by establishing partnerships with organizations across the country.

In 2021, MEGPL in collaboration with ONCIGE, Nueva Vision Optica and Doctor Cruz Clinics, ran a year-round, school-based program for vision services for children attending primary and secondary schools on Bioko Island and in Bata on the mainland. The program provided early detection of visual impairment by diagnosing visual deficiencies through screening and clinical examination, as well as treatment with corrective eyeglasses. To date, Ver Bien has screened over 15,000 children for vision issues, provided over 1,800 clinical eye examinations and donated 1,290 prescription eyeglasses to youth.

For information on respecting Human Rights in EG, please see our Human Rights section.